Meels Blends Nature and Mental Health on Debut EP “Across the Raccoon Straight”

Critter Country/Folk artist Meels is dropping her debut EP, Across the Raccoon Straight, on January 30th via Lost Highway Records. Sitting in the storytelling home of country idols like Brandi Carlile and Willie Nelson, Meels has earned her spot by keeping a nostalgic sound while bringing a lyrically refreshing theme to her tracklist. Meels sheds a melodic light on the brilliance of nature through writing reminiscent of poet Mary Oliver, while evoking the sound of country queen Dolly Parton.
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The natural world knows itself in a way humanity doesn’t, and knowing we’re a part of it is often why we seek to find answers there. Meels doesn’t just listen to flora and fauna; she uses this EP to write her memoir. In doing so, nature also gives her the opportunity to clearly express her own inner world. In her single, The Wizard, she uses metaphor to give us a distinct view of what it feels like to struggle with OCD. “It was a very therapeutic song for me,” she shares with IINAG. In the chorus of the track, she sings “my mind is full of fleas/obsessive compulsive degree”, offering listeners a visceral image of how OCD is itching and biting for an ever-elusive certainty.
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The song is lively, made for kicking up your feet at your local honky-tonk bar. “It (The Wizard) allowed me to write about my lifelong struggles with OCD in a way that was fun, digestible, and had this jaunty little vibe to it. It just made it easier to work through those issues,” she adds. The Wizard is proof that one can find joy amidst mental health challenges. Meels continues, “ I think it is really important for me to bring it up and talk about what the song means so I can make people feel less alone. I know what it feels like as little me dealing with those issues as a kid would have loved to know that another person was dealing with it too.”
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Much like Mary Oliver, who has an entire Reddit thread dedicated to how her nature-inspired poetry eases the anxiety and guilt of OCD, Meels uses our connections to the environment to remind us we’re powerfully intertwined and therefore never alone.

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