FEATURE:
Globe Alone
IN THIS PHOTO: Charli XCX wrote her album, how i’m feeling now, whilst in self-isolation
Creativity in a Time of Lockdown and Solitude
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THIS is a subject that I don’t think…
PHOTO CREDIT: @craftedbygc/Unsplash
has been raised much but, as this year has been extraordinary, it is very different for songwriters. Someone mentioned it on Twitter – I don’t recall who -, but the fact that many songwriters have not been able to collaborate in the same way and have been performing less has altered their productivity. We could go into the whole psychology about how the changed mindsets and mental-health of musicians contributes to the way they process and produce music. I guess touring takes up a lot of the year and it can be tough creating music on the road. Maybe some artists have a better time of it but, as many have been stuck at home, they have been writing more. Judging by what has been produced this year in terms of singles and albums, the pandemic has not necessarily led to a moodier and darker sound. In fact, many have reacted to the dislocation and struggle with tracks to elevate and lift the mood! I think this mirror’s people’s listening habits. I have heard from more than one musician how a lack of social interaction and performance has meant that their creativity has increased. Some might say that time alone to reflect would lead to an increase in output but, considering there is still so much stress, uncertainty and darkness around, I would have assumed the opposite! That said, my output has increased a little bit! I think writing can be quite a useful distraction and it focuses all that nervousness and anxiety into something useful.
PHOTO CREDIT: @dangribbin/Unsplash
Many artists have found inspiration from the way people have come together during lockdown and, even though the lockdown has ended in England, we are still not back to normal. We can sort of get together virtually and, so long as they are socially distanced, artists can get into studios and combine with producers and musicians. I am not suggesting that every musician in the world is alone and they are not able to work in a manner similar to last year. It is obvious that most have had to isolate and have not been in a room of vibing fans from live crowds (and got inspiration that way). One artist who has definitely seen her output up over the past few months is Billie Eilish. Maybe there is something to do with having more time to concentrate on writing but, even in a very scary and solitary time, she has been writing hard – as this article from NME explains:
“Billie Eilish has revealed she has 16 new songs in the works with brother and producer Finneas.
In the fourth edition of her annual retrospective interview with Vanity Fair, Eilish, now 18, opened up about identity, using her platform for good, the tumultuous year that’s been 2020, and how she’s been filling the time – working on new music.
“Right now I have 16,” the singer responded when asked how many songs she was currently working on. “We’ve been working. And I love them all.”
Eilish also discussed feeling more confident in her songwriting abilities, advocating for herself and communicating her ideas.
“I think Finneas and I have just seriously really gotten in the groove. We do it so fast,” she explained
“There was a period of time, a month ago or something, we were just texting the label like, ‘Song done, another song done, another song done.’ So, I’m so much better at it. I love it so much more. I actually really do enjoy it now and I do feel like I’m pretty good at it now”.
I am fairly new to the link between solitude and creativity; I had never really thought that there was a relationship. This year, I was expecting new music to be quite downcast and lacking energy. Similarly, I felt artists would shrink away and they would wait until the pandemic passed until they put out new stuff. The opposite seems to be true. Some albums were pushed forward – such as Laura Marling’s, Song for Our Daughter -, whereas the likes of Charli XCX and Paul McCartney have recorded albums in lockdown! In the most challenging time musicians have faced, the music that has been put out is amazing! Not only is the consistency and quality terrific, but there have been surprise releases and albums coming sooner than we anticipated! I do wonder whether the need to find some optimism and purpose at a time when many feel tired and worried has spurred some extra creativity?! I wonder whether next year will see any transition and difference. Will a gradual return to normality mean that creativity levels change? I do know that artists will want to go back to performing as much as possible, but I feel many will try and find more time than normal to write and spend time creating. I guess one positive that has come from the coronavirus and lockdown is many artists have turned to writing and channelling their conflicting emotions into some sensational music! Although collaboration is essential and can be the key to unlocking creativity, solitude can also provoke a lot of soul-searching and brilliant work. This article explains more and raises some interesting findings:
“You can benefit from interacting and brainstorming with others, but awesome creative work can be achieved by shutting out the outside world, whilst you insanely focus on your craft.
Research by Dr. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi author of Flow (The Psychology of Optimal Experience) found that exceptional creators are more likely to be introverted.
PHOTO CREDIT: @katstokes_/Unsplash
The best creative minds are flexible, and spend quality time working alone, but they don’t ignore the value of other ideas.
n physics, Albert Einstein, Isaac Newton, and James Clerk Maxwell, three of the greatest creative contributors, worked almost entirely alone.
They profited from other people’s ideas not in direct collaboration, but by reading research papers and books.
In music, Michael Jackson and Roger Waters needed the input of Quincy Jones and David Gilmour, respectively, to produce a great product.
For artist Louise Bourgeois, aloneness was the raw material of art.
She writes: “After the tremendous effort you put in here, solitude, even prolonged solitude, can only be of very great benefit. Your work may well be more arduous than it was in the studio, but it will also be more personal.”
You can lose yourself in your work, when you are consciously in the flow without distraction. Louise further says:
“Solitude, a rest from responsibilities, and peace of mind, will do you more good than the atmosphere of the studio and the conversations which, generally speaking, are a waste of time”.
Although this article from The Atlantic concerns the lesson author Dorthe Nors took from Ingmar Bergman, I think a lot of what was written can directly be applied to musicians. There is something about solitude and being alone that can make a big difference:
“And then there’s the fact that he emphasizes “solitude”—that the artistic process unfolds in the lonely hours. That’s when the work happens. You have to control the creative energy that you've got. You have to discipline yourself to fulfill it. And that work only happens alone.
Solitude, I think, heightens artistic receptivity in a way that can be challenging and painful. When you sit there, alone and working, you get thrown back on yourself. Your life and your emotions, what you think and what you feel, are constantly being thrown back on you. And then the “too much humanity” feeling is even stronger: you can't run away from yourself. You can't run away from your emotions and your memory and the material you're working on. Artistic solitude is a decision to turn and face these feelings, to sit with them for long periods of time.
PHOTO CREDIT: @tinamosquito/Unsplash
It takes the courage to be there. You run into your own pettiness. Your own cowardice. You run into all kinds of ugly sides of yourself. But the things that you've experienced in your life become the writing that you do. And there's no easy way to get to it, if you want to write literary fiction.
And that's what Bergman and other Swedish writers have taught me—to stay in that painful zone, discipline myself through it to get where I want.
I reckon there should be more articles written about solitude and creativity that is tied to music. As I started by saying, there are artists who have written so much more and have seen their creativity levels peak when they have been forced away from others and locked away. Naturally, the opposite is true for many people - and one cannot say that everyone works the same when it comes to solitude and how they approach writing. I was interested in exploring the subject of solitude/being alone and whether that can be beneficial in terms of the music bring produced. It has been a very tough year but, remarkably, the music put out has been among the best we have seen for years! From amazing albums recorded in lockdown such as Charli XCX’s how i’m feeling now to memorable singles, it has been a very busy and interesting year. Let’s hope that artists can tour soon and get into studios in a less restrictive ways. Aside from some online collaborations, I think many artists have had to adapt to a new way of writing. For many who might have written in teams previously, I think some time alone has made them write more independently and personally - and, rather than absorb dark emotions and the fear around the world, many have turned that into something wonderfully revealing and moving. I would not advice enforced and prolonged periods of solitude to see how the music scene changes going forward but, in one of the strangest and hardest years we will ever see, some disconnection and isolation has…
LED to some phenomenal music.