Child of Venus is the striking debut full length album from Canadian-born singer, songwriter, producer, filmmaker and actor Kaelen Ohm (she/they) who performs under the musical moniker AMAARA. Due out July 7, the collection is classic-era dream pop at its core, drawing influence from jazz, R&B and folk music with reverb drenched guitars, soaring synths, layered vocal harmonies and expansive percussion.

Arriving alongside a brand-new official video, new single “Bright Lights’” lush instrumentation and psychedelic haze hits the road while ruminating about a long drive up to Big Sur taken in 2020. “I’d just been through a really tough situation in my life where the rug felt like it was pulled out from under me,” she recalls. “I found myself grappling with my role in letting it happen, and trying to let go of what I was still hanging onto.”

Child of Venus is the culmination of a lifetime of artistic pursuits – a document of rediscovery and transition, with Kaelen Ohm coming up for air as an artist and human being truly reborn. As AMAARA, she is reflecting on love and loss throughout the album, as well as the healing power of pure psychedelia and the act of connecting with her inner child—which has led her to reflect on her own adolescence at large. “I’ve been on a journey of looking into my own childhood conditioning, and the notion of unbounded creative genius as well as where that goes wrong in adolescence,” she explains. A reflective work that zooms in on the things we hold close and what manages to escape our grasp, Child of Venus is a record that leaves a mark on anyone who hears it, in the best way possible.

Photo Courtesy: Christian Sorensen Hanson