Brooklyn’s Sarah Cicero has released her stunning new single, “At Arm’s Length,” from her forthcoming EP Cold Immaculate Opposite due out on April 9th. The EP tackles the uncertainty of being a twenty-something and those in between years, stepping out of behind a child, yet not yet completely knowing how to navigate adulthood. The EP documents the evolution of a young woman’s journey into self-awareness, all through the lens of a year spent mostly in solitude. ”At Arm’s Length”  holds a special place in Cicero’s heart being that it is the first song she wrote about real “grown-up love.” For Sarah, the memory of picking up her guitar and trying to capture the infinite wonderful, terrifying, confusing, thrilling, conflicting emotions that come with that realization—that, ready or not, you’re in love with someone—is a really special memory.

“The arrangement, which is 100% my favorite on the record, came together (as always) with the help of my producer, Sahil Ansari,” Cicero says. “We put a lot of care into this arrangement because I really wanted it to be dynamic and dramatic, with these explosive choruses and a huge, lush, almost cinematic outro. Sahil had the game-changing idea to add pedal steel and came up with an electric guitar part for the chorus that blew my mind and then we brought in Reid Jenkins (of Morningsiders) to play violin on the outro, which he did beautifully and perfectly, and so the song ended up far surpassing what I had envisioned.”

The EP as a whole was a collaborative effort. Along with Ansari, a number of peers from the richly creative Brooklyn DIY scene worked to help bring the songs to life. The community effort put into the music during a year of isolation is particularly poignant, resonating throughout all the songs that make up Cold Immaculate Opposite.