Filled with vitality and passion, Rebekah Faidia boldly speaks her truth.

The Ann Arbor dream-soul singer-songwriter celebrates integrity and authenticity on her latest empowering single, “Songbird,” which dropped in December.

“It’s about speaking out, being real and doing what’s right. It was inspired by a real-life scenario. I was outside, it was really cold, and I saw one bird on top of a tree, and it was singing,” Faidia said. “It was really gray out, and there was no other bird expect for that one. I thought that was a cool metaphor for speaking truth.”

Throughout “Songbird,” serene tweets, uplifting piano, hopeful synths, calm bass, gentle electric guitars and booming drums encourage sharing your voice and being proactive.

Faidia confidently sings, “The trees are bare and the air is cold/The forest is full of stories untold/Of how they suffer, of how they fought/To not be silenced/To not be bought/She’s not hiding/She’s not hiding/She’ll soon be flying.”

“I like that music can give a message to people of what they need to hear,” she said. “It can be different for each person, and it can speak to them individually.”

Faidia started writing the track in 2020 and shared it with producers/engineers Ryan Hyland and Mike Hurley last year at Plymouth Rock Recording Company.

“I recorded ‘Songbird’ and ‘I’ll Find It’ there, and that’s where I’ll be finishing my EP,” she said.

Love & Danger and I’ll Find It

In 2021, Faidia also released the gospel-tinged “Love & Danger,” a spiritual anthem about setting boundaries and maintaining your sense of self.

Reassuring piano, thumping bass, steady drums, ticking cymbals, grateful electric guitars, contemplative organ and whistling synths encourage listeners to find the right balance in life.

Faidia openly sings, “Love that felt free and wild/Like love and danger reconciled/Overwhelmed, swept away/But you won’t stay/No, you won’t stay/In the moment, but it always ends/As sweetness turns to contempt/Now, there’s two hearts to mend/Now, there’s two hearts to mend.”

“That one’s about when you’re giving up too much of yourself and you’re losing who you are, but not in a good or selfless way. You’re compromising what’s good and true,” she said.

“A couple of past relationships inspired that, and when you look back, you’re like, ‘I shouldn’t have given up those good things of myself for someone or something.’ It’s almost like trading in your soul.”

For “Love & Danger,” Faidia collaborated with producer/engineer Ian Gold from Willis Sound. The track evolved over a two-year period due to pandemic challenges and life changes.

“It started at one studio, but then it wasn’t going to get finished. I took it to another studio, and then the shutdown happened and I had my son,” she said. “I’m so happy that it’s finally done.”

In addition to that sense of growth, Faidia keeps searching for personal inspiration on “I’ll Find It,” a contemplative ballad filled with sprinkling piano, breezy electric guitars, soothing bass and mellow drums. It beautifully brings a summery sense of hope to a dark, wintry world.

Faidia thoughtfully sings, “I’ve been in this desert so long/The mirages are coming out/But even they’re the shades of gray/I’ve been without water so long/The oasis is coming out/But even then the water’s warm/I’m praying for rain/I’m praying for inspiration/Why has the world turned so dull/Somewhere in the clouds/In the stars and the tall grass/I’ll find it.”

“I had written it before the shutdown. I wanted to write a song, but I didn’t know what to write about. I was struggling to find inspiration, so I thought, ‘Well, I’ll write about finding inspiration,’” she said. “In the moment, when I wrote that song, I feel like I did find it, but I definitely think it is a lifelong process.”

Change Over and New Material

Before releasing her latest singles, Faidia dropped her compelling full-length album, Change Over, in 2020. An ideal soundtrack for a new start, the soulful album explores Faidia’s personal journey of reflection, renewal and relief across a dozen tracks and features alternate versions of three songs, “Cover Me, “Let Me Breathe” and “Mystic Mind.”

“It was a bunch of unreleased songs that I didn’t want to completely get rid of. I felt like they still had some value to them, and I just put them together in one album. I called it Change Over because after this I’m gonna start anew,” said Faidia, who’s inspired by Jimi Hendrix, Amy Winehouse and Joss Stone.

“I think a lot of the songs definitely deal with that, like ‘Let Me Breathe,’ which makes you feel like you can finally move forward and that the past doesn’t define you. It’s cool that I have these different versions of several songs … each one stands on its own, and it shows how versatile a song can be.”

Faidia will continue to show her musical versatility on a follow-up EP, which will come out later this year. It will be her second EP since releasing her debut project, Weave Dreams into Life, in 2018.

“I think we’re all hesitant to make plans … at least I am. I don’t know if I’ll be releasing singles as we go, but I think I would like to though. I’m totally in the beginning (stages),” Faidia said.