By Mercedes Caldera-Perez
The Centennialight
Trust Ceremony, released April 19, 2024, is the second LP released by artist Jhariah. Although put in a more alt/indie theatrical category, they stated that they are “No genre, all drama.”
As stated by the artist themselves in an interview with idobi, “TRUST CEREMONY is exactly as the title states, a celebration.”
“I wrote it over the course of five years as a sort of thesis focused on trust. Attempting to unpack what that word means to me, what it means to have it, to lose it, to want it, or to give it. It's equal parts of me trying to process my life thus far, and creating aspirations for the future.”
The album is represented by the personifications of Chance, Truth, Fear, and Risk. Here are a couple highlights of the album.
TOOTH PACT is the album's first song, a wonderful opener to the album as it shows exactly what it's here for. The song talks about preparing for their time during the five years the album took to make.
The song also uses teeth as symbolism with the lyrics, “May each word I speak be backed by each of my teeth”. Teeth often are symbols of strength, power, and transformation.
FIRE4FUN, is about finally getting the push to take those important risks instead of staying in the constant state of nothing. It takes both the outcomes of taking risks and the consequences of not taking them and perfectly puts them into a song.
The song is very quick and spontaneous before being broken up with the outro which talks about someone trying to be perfect. The chaos captures the overwhelming emotions along with describing the feeling to be “hyperactive hornets” in someone's lungs.
RISK, RISK, RISK! was originally released as a single on August 31, 2023 and became one of his most known songs. The song is about getting out of your comfort zone and moving forward to achieve your goals completely unafraid.
Jhariah has mentioned that “It started to sink in that I’m trying to accomplish the nearly impossible here, and I’ve gotta have complete faith in myself. I can’t be afraid, even if I should be. No one reaches the heights I want to reach by playing it safe, so I made a promise to bet on myself more.”
The song has a very well made music video with beautiful sets as well as a mix of live action and animated pieces to go with it.
COLLARBONE/PIN-EYE was also released as a single January 26, 2024. The song has been said to be very personal to themselves and they were a bit nervous to share it publicly.
The song is about being hardworking and resilient while trying to desperately keep up with the overwhelming expectations the world puts on you. Pushing yourself to your limit to prove yourself worthy of something you don't need to prove.
“I guess I’ve got to deliver–I wish I could just go back in time to tell you I need help. Oh, why do I beg my legs to take me much farther than they were meant to?”
The song is also paired with another beautifully made music video that shows a process of falling and getting back up despite everything that tries to stop them.
MAYBE LATER DANCE is about putting things off to avoid facing anxious decisions as well as envying those around you who can take those risks. The song repeats “I want to be just like you” and how they try to mimic their friends to feel better.
“Chronic maybe later dance, busy making idols of my friends”.
EAT YOUR FRIENDS was released as a single released October 26 2023 and is a collaboration with the band Pinkshift. The song contrasts the feelings of MAYBE LATER DANCE as it instead talks about having pointless and ruthless competition between jealous friends who try to one-up each other.
The music industry is very competitive, and they state that the song represents their values in being against the machine that seeks to pin people against each other.
The music video shows Jhariah and Pinkshift fighting each other and setting things on fire to make themselves feel better. A fun thing about the song is that when performed live, they brought over the fight choreography on stage!
TRUST CEREMONY is the album's closing song, as well as the longest at five minutes and twenty-two seconds.. The song is a lovely wrap up, less chaotic and more blissful sounding.
The song talks about the struggles with feeling the need to constantly improve on one's work, as well as coming to terms with appreciating their current achievements. They find comfort in the idea of a better future, and want to work on not hurting themselves in the process of trying to achieve their goals.
“Fall in love with who you’ll one day be, but please, don't fall so hard.”
The music of Jhariah has taken inspiration from other bands they are a fan of, such as My Chemical Romance, Queen and System of a Down, all of which can be seen within their style.
Jhariah is not only a singer songwriter, but also a talented artist. They make their own designs for their merch, animate music videos, and are responsible for all the art that goes into their albums.
On November 20 Jhariah announced a UK tour through a series of mysterious hints featuring the character Risk as well as a final 2024 show in New Jersey December 6.
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