Unveiling "Love Always, Veronika": The Untold Sequel to a Literary Tragedy
For our debut album, Chasing Beauty, we had hoped to explore themes of raw emotion, atmospheric soundscapes, and deep character studies. One particular track, "Like Veronika," resonated deeply with many of our listeners. Sung by Grant Tuffs, our goal was to capture the painful, bewildered lament of Eduard—a man left entirely in the dark after the sudden, unexplained departure of Veronika, the woman he loved.
That song, and the narrative holding it together, was born from my profound love for Paulo Coelho’s masterpiece, Veronika Decides to Die.
Coelho never wrote a sequel to his book. He left the future open, hanging in the balance of what could be. As a writer, I couldn't stop imagining what happened next. I needed to tie up the loose ends that Coehlo had left me with. “Like Veronika” was my interpretation of what happened next, but instead of riding his coattails and writing a book, I wrote the lyrics for an instrumental piece Drew had already written…a piece that I had fallen in love with and listened to over and over. I have to be honest, when Drew asked me if I would write lyrics for it, I was over the moon, I danced through my house, smiling and yelling, “Yes, yes, yes!” And right away I knew that it HAD to be the backdrop for my musings of Veronika’s future, one that never existed except in my own mind.
In our upcoming sophomore album, Glossed Souls, I wanted to break Veronika’s silence and give Eduard the answers that he so desperately wanted and deserved.
Our new single, "Love Always, Veronika," serves as a direct musical and narrative response to "Like Veronika." If the first song was Eduard's question, this new track is Veronika's answer.
Shifting perspectives entirely, the song is voiced by our female vocalist, Anna Rea. It is written to represent a final, devastating letter sent to Eduard. In it, Veronika reveals the heartbreaking truth behind her disappearance: she believed she was dying. Rather than forcing Eduard to endure the agonizing pain of watching her fade away, she chose to leave. She wanted to preserve the love they shared, ensuring he would only ever remember her one way—alive, vibrant, and free. Lyrically I wanted to tie the two songs together with a common thread by using the chorus from “Like Veronika” To Live Life as the ending of “Love Always, Veronika” while still allowing each song to stand on its own without depending on each other.
Musically, Drew strove to compose a sonic landscape using a different palette of instrumentation, one that is softer and more feminine than that of “Like Veronika” yet still carries an emotional weight within it, weaving together different genres and applying that push/pull effect that we are so fond of that defines our sound. Right now, Drew is in the studio adding special touches to the track to bring this tragic dialogue to life.
We are currently hoping to have a release date in August or early September via Subscotia Records.
This song is incredibly close to our hearts. It is an exploration of love, tragedy, and the stories we choose to finish when the original author leaves the pages blank. We cannot wait for you to hear what Drew and I have been building with the help of our amazing vocalists, Grant and Anna. I also hope that those who haven’t heard “Like Veronika” before will choose to listen to it as well and get the full tragic story that I’ve tried to tell with my lyrics.
Stay tuned for the official release date and the first audio teasers dropping soon.
Lisa