Eau the Music Photo Credit: Laura Collins
Eau the Music Photo Credit Laura Collins
Ottawa-based indie rock and dream pop artist Eau the Music has released "In This Silence," the first single from her forthcoming debut album, 'Light in the Dark,' arriving October 16. Written, produced and mixed entirely by Ophelie Quraishi, the artist behind Eau the Music, the track captures the uncertain, in-between moments of life, from relationships to grief to the ongoing relationship she holds with herself.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r2idn0IOr9o
The song began as a voice memo, a simple strum and melody that surfaced the phrase "in this silence, I remain" before Quraishi fully understood what it meant. She wrote it during a time of self-reflection, drawing on a regular meditation practice that had already begun opening up new layers of reflection. The lyrics carry multiple meanings at once, touching on the fear of being misunderstood, the discomfort of uncertainty, and the quiet trust required to give both herself and others room to simply be.
Listen on Spotify here:
https://open.spotify.com/track/2A5ZnaXASCX4IDyFeDUWMp?si=861de83273004ce6&nd=1&dlsi=7cc56af42f924269
That searching, deeply personal quality runs through the entire album. Quraishi began writing 'Light in the Dark' following the deaths of her father and stepmother, who passed a few months apart after long illnesses. Meditation became her way through it, and in reconnecting with her own emotions, she found herself writing songs, an outlet she had never explored before and had no formal training in. What started as a way to process loss became a full creative reawakening, one she describes as reconnecting with a version of herself she had known as a child but had lost touch with over time.
At the heart of "In This Silence" is a meditation on finding peace in uncertainty, with lyrics like "In this silence I remain," "Love survives me once again," and "But the lights will shine again" reflecting resilience, patience and the quiet hope that endures even through loss and misunderstanding. Inspired by Eau the Music's meditation practice, the song captures the emotional space between grief, relationships and self-discovery, mirroring the deeply personal journey behind her debut album ‘Light in the Dark,’ which emerged while discovering her creative voice.
Check it out on Bandcamp here: https://eauthemusic.bandcamp.com/music
Remarkably, Quraishi built the entire album herself, teaching herself guitar, vocals, synth, bass and drum programming entirely by ear, and recording everything in the home studio she constructed piece by piece in Ottawa. "In This Silence" was the first track she attempted to mix on her own, a process that took months of trial and instinct before she found the sound she was chasing. She has described her songs as built from anywhere between fifty and two hundred layered tracks, with certain guitar and synth parts kept exactly as they were captured in a single, unrepeatable take.
Eau the Music's story reaches back to her 2022 debut single "Unfamiliar," written for her first band, First of the Last Stars, about her father during his illness. Her solo work has already found an audience beyond Canada, with her single "Life" serving as the title track for 'Back Tide,' a UK short film from Hellion Films exploring revenge, guilt and abuse before ultimately arriving at hope, a project she also helped score. She was additionally recognised as a semi-finalist in the International Songwriting Competition and was recently profiled by Women in Music Canada.
At its core, 'Light in the Dark' is about transformation, the kind that begins uncertain and uncomfortable before settling into something peaceful. Quraishi has described the album as an invitation for listeners to sit with all the parts of themselves, the light and the dark alike, the same honesty she brings to every layer of "In This Silence."
Tour Dates:
September 2, Ottawa, House of Targ
November 12, Ottawa, Club Saw
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