Photo Credits: Manuel Schamberger
American-born experimental artist Alex Rapp unveils her new single ‘Ego’ via Berlin-based Fluctua Records on 18 March, setting the tone for the upcoming EP later in the year. During a post-pandemic era associated with efforts at taking stock of life and getting priorities straight, the opening lines of ‘Ego’ paint a picture of a Sisyphean predicament every single working age adult has found themselves in – stuck in a rut, wishing the days away in a well-paid yet soul-destroying job you couldn’t afford turning down: ‘Time is wasting away, I sign in for the day, pending pests fill the space where my dreams used to lay / Am I better than this, better settle for this, hold my place, keep face, one more day to erase.’
On the song’s themes:
‘The song ‘Ego’ is focused on the extremes of self importance, believing you are God’s gift to the world in one moment and feeling worthless the next. How every action you take for yourself builds your self esteem whether it’s for the good or bad and how it’s better to rely on that than focusing on self image.’
On identity:
‘I struggled the most to write the lyrics for this song I think mainly because it is one of the few songs not about love but about identity which I feel like I am merely scratching the surface of in my life currently. I’d let my love life dictate my identity, being tied to or broken-hearted by woman or man, this was the one of the first songs I began taking responsibility for my own suffering.’
On personal growth:
‘While ego is objectively not good or bad, it merely is, I have always wished I’d had a bit bigger of an ego. I had never thought too highly of myself which made me shy away from certain opportunities and trap myself in spaces I knew I didn’t really want to be in.’
