My Surprise Single "Alone In Paradise" is inspired by the surreal DIY feature film Lost Angeles

You know, sometimes you just want to make something great. Something from the heart. Real.

Alone In Paradise is my surprise single inspired by the surreal DIY feature film Lost Angeles!

“Two young women meet on an unusual phone call. Their lives take an unexpected twist when they enter a shared dream where they are visited by the ghosts of Hollywood past and present.” 

Lost Angeles is written and directed by Jesse Dvorak. He is the acclaimed writer, musician (BLOOD NEBRASKA), and filmmaker behind the creative collective ARTandVOID, which envisions art and writing as “a healing ritual” and provides “a refuge for the spiritual artists, midnight poets, and romantic rebels.” Offering insights about his creative process for the film made me appreciate it even more!

Soon after watching Lost Angeles, I was compelled to write Alone In Paradise. Through hazy synths and dreamy guitars, I really tried to capture the essence of Marina's and Elise's journey as soulmates drawn together by their art. 

As a song, Alone In Paradise is your sign to believe you aren't alone and lost wandering an unknown path, because your soulmate is out there and you are destined to meet. 

Since I already had all my 2026 releases planned and ready to go, Alone In Paradise was a total surprise with how quickly and beautifully it came together! I wrote two drafts of lyrics and recorded it in my bedroom studio from March 29 to April 2, 2026.

While I'm constantly writing music and lyrics, I definitely don't always intend to release songs. But I couldn't stop thinking about this film and how it made me feel. It felt right to share this song both as a personal milestone and a celebration of the film.

Lost Angeles was a creative fire that profoundly moved me at just the right moment to make Alone In Paradise. On top of that, the way I made Alone In Paradise was different from my usual songwriting process. 

Create For The One Who Hasn't Found You

Music is my love language. I will always write songs about the people, places, and things I deeply care for. If it isn't my own personal feelings or experiences that move me to create, then I'm motivated by putting myself in someone else's shoes, simple curiosity, social consciousness, or someone else's art. 

Alone In Paradise is the first song I've made and released that's inspired by a film. In addition to watching Lost Angeles, I've been reading Jesse's book Ex Nihilo: 33 Meditations for Artists. These grounded and inspiring meditations reflect the values of community, authenticity, and integrity. Each one has an associated exercise that is meant to encourage creativity and deep alignment with your authentic self. Some activities encourage a perspective shift, others prompt self-care practices, and a few are disciplined actions. 

One meditation in particular was an epiphany for me: Create For The One Who Hasn't Found You.

I believe in soulmates. I met mine in 2024. She's the woman I wrote Afterlove about. I hadn't prepared myself for a life without her in it, which is one type of deep heartbreak my debut album explores. 

Although she was the love of my life, but left me for someone else, she gave me a precious seashell to treasure forever as a memento of our happiest time together. Seeing a similar seashell in the opening of Lost Angeles was breathtaking, as was watching Maria's and Elise's journey as soulmates and artists. 

I'd been so wrapped up in creating music mostly from a place of pain, grief, and regret for a love lost, that it simply didn't occur to me to create for the woman who might yet find me.

Lost Angeles showed me the power of having faith and continuing to make art, no matter what.  

Reaching Out for Connection

The lyrics for Alone In Paradise are personally meaningful because they're about me reaching out for a connection to the one I haven't met yet.

Beyond just my own perspective though, I wanted the lyrics to be relatable to others who may also be feeling a little lost, alone, and wondering if they'll ever crash into the person who will change their life forever. 

Even if some listeners aren't inclined to believe in soulmates, I still wanted Alone In Paradise to evoke a rush of emotions such as yearning, hope, and awe. Achieving this involved being intentional and very precise about crafting lyrics that fit the neon-soaked, intense vibe of the film.

I came up with two word bubbles to help spark vivid lyrics. The first one was all about the feelings I had while watching Lost Angeles. In turn, these were the feelings I wanted to convey to listeners.

The second word bubble had some of my favourite scenes, because I wanted my lyrics to match what happens in Lost Angeles. You can hear this in the bridge (which happens to be my favourite part) because the lyrics reference several of these scenes!

While writing lyrics and singing, I tried to put myself in the shoes of Maria and Elise, as if they were having a conversation with the verses and reaching out to each other across great distances.

Knowing exactly what I wanted to say with Alone In Paradise helped the production fall into place easily!

Alone In Paradise's Ethereal Production

I spent the summer of 2016 in Montréal. One afternoon, I went to a record store. The featured album was Tegan and Sara's synthpop masterpiece Love You To Death.

Produced by Greg Kurstin, this album holds a gold standard for me in terms of the production itself, its song arrangements, and particularly its synth and drum tones. That Girl, Dying To Know, Faint Of Heart, and BWU were especially helpful songs to reference in my own production for Alone In Paradise.

Perfect Pop Drums 

To get a full, tight, and textured drum sound in BandLab, I combined four drum kits that were then mixed with a little compression, reverb, and EQ:

• R & B Kit: Despite it's name, it sounds way better as a pop kit, with a nice full kick and snare.
• Empire Kit: This kit adds some much needed texture and contrast to the other kits, with its clear hi-hats and crashes. Really great for the softer parts of the song.
• Atlanta Hip Hop Kit: The deep kick of this kit was important to boost the kicks of the R & B kit. As well, it has a touch of grit to the snares and hi-hats that goes along well with the Empire Kit.
• Industrial Kit: Without any effects, this kit slams hard. It sounded overwhelming, but I wasn't using it for it's dark and processed sound. Instead, I applied and tweaked an effect preset called "Evolve Drums," which is a combination of compressors, a phaser, and EQ that creates tonal variation with each hit of the snare. It gives a lift at the end of verses and in the bridge with its airy presence. By adding a bit of reverb, it also also provides space and depth. To make things even more interesting, I manually did panning automation for each individual snare hit left and right.

Once I programmed these drums, I really enjoyed arranging each part! Cutting sections mattered just as much as adding layers, because removing parts creates dynamics, tension, and anticipation. This is excellent before choruses, for example. And crucially, this keeps you engaged as a listener while making an interesting sonic experience. 

Hazy Synths 

Thankfully, I relied on my compilation of favourite synths in BandLab to find ones that matched closely with all the romantic feelings that saturate Alone In Paradise. 

One synth pad, helpfully named Movie Pad, sounded hazy. I immediately thought it had this lovely film soundtrack quality. This was absolutely perfect not only because Lost Angeles is literally the film inspiring my song, but also because this synth is the very first sound listeners will hear to draw them in. It also plays low in the verses, gently wrapping them in aural velvet. 

Since I needed an emotional hook immediately, I layered in another synth pad called Dubstep Lead. It really doesn't have anything to do sound wise with dubstep, but it does bring to mind that classic 80s synthwave sound.

Similarly, there are two separate synths that provide memorable tones and keep the song moving. I layered them only in the intro and right after the first chorus, so they're used minimally but distinctly. Both synths are panned left and right, but I programmed this other shimmering one to drift from your right ear to your left, giving these synths a surreal quality that sweeps you away. 

Finally, the chorus synth pads are panned hard left and right to provide contrast and emotion in the choruses. The one in your left ear is called Dreamy Pad and the one in your right is the Thick Air Pad. Fittingly, they make the choruses soar.

To anchor everything, the bass synth I used was named Deep House. True to its name, it provides a deep tone that's great both for short stabs and drawn out notes. I loved the way it cut through the mix, as well as the interplay with my rhythm and lead guitars.

Dreamy Guitars 

Unexpectedly, it took me a while to come up with a memorable guitar riff and to find the right tone for it.

I first wrote Alone In Paradise on piano, in the simple, reliable key of C major. Obviously, this meant I was going to use notes from the C major scale to come up with my riff. I also knew I wanted the lead guitar tone to be clean. As well, I knew I wanted a chimey, single coil pickup sound.

So I used my very first electric guitar ever, a Squier "Starcaster" Stratocaster that came in one of those "Stop Dreaming, Start Playing!" player packs. This guitar has a lot of sentimental value for me. Over time, I've changed everything aesthetically but kept the original ceramic pickups because I prefer how they sound.

My favourite pickup combinations on a Strat are the second position (bridge and middle coils) for lead, and the fourth position (middle and neck coils) for rhythm! 

Initially, my riff for Alone In Paradise began around the 5-7 fret range, based on the notes of the C major scale. But it didn't match the mood set by the synths, or the drum rhythm. Then, thanks to a wrong note I played with my pinky, I slid my entire riff up to fret 9. 

Now I was playing in the 9-12 fret range. By honing in on playing the third and fourth strings, my riff slowly began to take shape. The actual shape I'm holding sounds almost like a suspended chord, and I'm almost playing a triad. But not quite, because it's really just two notes I'm moving around that very limited range.

The guitar effects I chose dressed up these notes in a dreamy tone. In contrast, I play my rhythm guitar sparingly. I wanted to let the synths shine through.

My riff for Alone In Paradise showed me that a good riff isn't always about complexity. Rather, playing in a matching song rhythm, combined with all the tones and synths and effects, can create a powerful, moving, and memorable riff.

Ethereal Vocals

Alone In Paradise has three vocal layers. I tweaked my usual vocal chain, which includes EQ, Deesser, Delay, Reverb, and Compression, to have a more ethereal quality for Alone In Paradise.

In practical terms, this meant adding a lot more reverb and delay to make my vocals echo and generally feel floaty.  

I relied on the Cosmic Vocals preset as a base, then adjusted it accordingly within my mix. It was still challenging to find the right balance between making my vocals present enough and also including all these effects without everything sounding washed out. I really took my time with singing, doing retakes and adjusting effects and volume automation as necessary so that everything sounded good in the final mix.

Overall, my production decisions for Alone In Paradise make it sound as surreal as Lost Angeles!

Destiny and Artistry 

The cover art I made for Alone In Paradise features one of my favourite scenes.

Without spoiling too much, I called it the "Bloody TV" scene because it symbolizes the intensity of Maria's and Elise's connection as soulmates. 

There's a point in the film where Maria is in a dire situation. She reaches out to Elise across time and space. Meanwhile, Elise is in her dark living room, feeling Maria through the static hum of the city. 

She presses her fingers tenderly to the TV screen. 

Lights and music pulse.

Their connection is so deep, Elise's fingers come away bloodstained. 

In a passionate, almost ritualistic gesture, she gently smears her finger tips across her cheek in a daze.

Maria and Elise's journey of destiny and artistry eventually ends on an inspiring, fulfilling note. 

I hope that Alone In Paradise makes you want to listen to Lost Angeles, and that it inspires you to believe in yourself and keep creating for the one who hasn't found you yet.