San Mei Gives Us An Exclusive Track by Track Walkthrough of Her Brand New EP, ‘In Comes The World’

Just last week Gold Coast singer songwriter and all round legend, San Mei (Emily Hamilton)revealed her brand new introspective EP, In Comes The World. It features the previously released single, Sink Or Swim. Written and produced by San Mei during some challenging times, it’s some of her best work to date. Today we’re super stoked to share with you and exclusive track by track walkthrough from Emily on the writing process and the emotions behind each track.

“This collection of songs came to me at a time when I felt like I was really experiencing what it was to be human, to feel the weight of the world come tumbling in; where in that moment in my life, I was being challenged by different things all at once. it felt like waves just crashing in on me one after the other. To me this EP is a celebration of that because the highs and lows and lessons I learnt during that time have tested me, changed me, and made me come out stronger at the other end. The songs feel like a mix of light and dark, highs and lows – to me, a beautiful reflection of what it is to be alive and to navigate being a human.” – San Mei

In The Machine

I took a bit of a different sonic approach with this song, and I thought that using some industrial sounds and having a bit of a mechanical feel would really suit it, which I think we achieved with a lot of the drum patterns and sounds. I still wanted to make sure it felt a bit surreal and dreamy at the same time, so the verb’ed-out vocals and wash of synths were important to include in the track.

I Can’t Sleep

It’s hard to get to sleep sometimes with all that swirling around in your head. It would have been nice to come to some positive resolution in the song where I overcame all these thoughts, but sometimes it’s just nice to vent your feelings when they all build up too much, and that’s what this song is for me.

Sink Or Swim

The best option for me during that time was to look up and swim to the surface, rather than just let myself sink. I wrote this song as an anthem of sorts, not just for myself but for others because I know this feeling is universal. I wanted it to be a rejection of the idea that our circumstances have control over us and know that we can always choose optimism and forge our way to the light.

Every Beat Of Your Heart

This song is about the fragility of new love; that precarious moment where you’re so high on a feeling but so aware that it could easily come crashing down before it really starts. It has its moments of desperation, and those things you say that verge on ridiculous when you’re falling for someone. I wanted the song to feel a little dizzy, with the contrast of sweet melodies and sentiments against the moments of dark and gritty production, which to me reflects that dangerous feeling of falling in love

Steal Me

I wrote this song when I realized my anxiety was really taking its toll on me, where I worrying about things I couldn’t control, what might or might not happen, and not being able to enjoy the present. I felt it robbing the joy and gratitude I could be experiencing. So, this song is about finding those solutions or rituals that you know can bring you out of those feelings and patterns, in a way “stealing you” away from that darkness.