Club Quarantine co-founder and JUNO-nominated experimental dance-pop artist Ceréna is over pretending to be someone she's not. Having found refuge in queer club culture and drawing inspiration from the ballroom scene and the late great visionary producer SOPHIE, the Tkaronto- (Toronto) based performer is now living her best life as her authentic self and is a stronger artist for it.
Fittingly marking this personal milestone and rebirth with her debut LP resurrection, Ceréna returns with a brand new visual for album cut "it'll be okay." Opening with an acapella cover of Mexican standard "Cielito Lindo," a nod to the artist's own Latinx heritage, before diving headfirst into a dark techno piledriver, "it'll be okay" sees Ceréna dramatizing her own struggles with mental health and working to overcome them in a flurry of fierce choreo and dreamlike fantasy sequences. Balancing the track's aggressive industrial beat with operatic vocal swells and calming affirmations of "listen to your heart," "it'll be okay" is club-y exorcism that urges listeners to let go of their baggage and embrace the euphoria of the dancefloor.
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"It’s asking people to do the necessary shadow work in order to fulfill their true and highest potential," Ceréna says of the track. "We are traumatized beings, whether experienced in this lifetime or previous lifetimes. We carry that trauma in our DNA and without awareness, it will continue to dictate how we maneuver through this world, hurting people along the way."
She continues: "Ceréna is tired of the sugarcoating and romanticizing suffering. There is a reason why we’re stuck in cycles of violence, but there is a way out. It’s grueling work, but it’ll be okay. 'it’ll be okay' is a visual representation of Ceréna facing her 'demons' and making peace with them as she transitions into a new world. A world where light and truth prevail. A world where we all have the support we need to take care of ourselves and the planet. This is the world Ceréna wants us to see.”
The music video's director Kyisha Williams says of the track: "'It'll be okay' is a sacred utterance I've spoken to myself countless times in life. The song itself, and the making of this video felt like a soothing balm for myself and Ceréna, who continue to wade through life’s healing journey. We want this video to encourage and inspire hope in our communities (especially survivors of violence) who may be in survival mode. A confirmation that there is growth in the healing, a prayer for us all that it will truly be okay."
Check out the official music video for "it'll be okay" off Ceréna's debut album resurrection below.
Photography: Daniel Lastres