After spending much of last year in the depths of Costa Rican jungle, multi-genre singer and songwriter Doe Paoro has returned with her newest EP, Divine Surrendering.
A self-proclaimed sound healer, Paoro combines soul and R&B with new-age folk to create an ethereal canvas. Elegantly layering harmonies throughout, she conveys sentiments of newness, growth, and transformation. Describing the pandemic as a, “spiritual and existential initiation,” the five-song project foregrounds Paoro’s deepened consciousness as she surrenders herself to something greater.
The opening track, “All My Life’s a Ceremony,” begins with a delicate acoustic guitar, and in it, Paoro details the depth of her perspective and spirituality. She confesses in a most sincere and hypnotic fashion, “Oh, humility, you have been a most tender teacher / Oh, mystery, show me how to surrender / Cause I’m still learning.”
The project showcases Paoro’s poetic songwriting ability, and spotlights her voice as an alchemizing tool for releasing pain and feeling. Understanding how “unexpressed trauma often gets imprinted at the vocal level,” she continues in her spiritual submission to the world on the title track.
The deeply meditative and magnetic EP ends with a Buddhist mantra titled, “Om Namo Amitabhaya;” translated to “entering into the limitless light.” The ceremonial song is a harmonic chant that embodies Paoro’s study of Tibetan opera through graceful vocal acrobatics. Instrumentally, the album as a whole is delicate and subtle but most effective, allowing her vocals to soar over top.
Paoro finds strength in relinquishing herself to the world, and though she’s challenged “by accepting the flow,” she says the EP is “all about learning to trust life.” Divine Surrendering is a fleeting 17 minutes long, but it provides listeners with a sonic spiritual energy that refreshes the mind and body.
