Stellie strikes some deeply resonant places in the hear with her single “How Do We Look So Good?” The shining synth line, shuffling, downtempo percussion and sinuous bass line are perfect framing music for her wide-ranging, soulful vocals. We’ve heard a lot of songs about romantic regrets but Stellie sets both a vivid settings to anchor the emotional memories and poetic explorations of working through the processing of her feelings and rethinking her own instincts before experience forced her to reconsider what she wants, why she wants it, what her attractions might be and whether they’re her own or more social and media conditioning. Throughout the song Stellie dives peels back these layers to get to the core of what feels vital and genuine while not dishonoring the path to get there. We all come to believe and value things that may have been valid or useful for a limited time and if not, life is a process of learning. Sometimes those lessons are hard and sometimes they hit us in a way that makes us reel for a moment or for years. The line “I can’t afford you at that price, I can’t afford to compromise” speaks to the way we buy into fantasies of our own construction or through internalized values we haven’t yet fully examined but in the end we come to know isn’t worth the personal cost or the deals necessary to take on something or someone that in the end erodes our insides. The title of the song, from one of the lyrics, reinforces the message by asking simply how we can look good when inside we’ve let go what we truly value in order to seem good to a culture, a social context or a world that wants us to reorient an authentic and healthy system of values and identity by rewarding compliance with a false and unrealistic standard. Listen to “How Do We Look So Good?” on Spotify.
Queen City Sounds and Art 
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