The new album from Katelyn Tarver, ‘Subject To Change’ was just released in November marking her first new material since 2018’s EP ‘Kool Aid’. Capturing the complexities that come with navigating life through one’s 20s and 30s, Tarver noted the inspiration, “I think a lot of us go through that phase in life where you ask yourself, ‘Is this it?’ It can be so isolating and so hard to talk about, especially with social media and all the pressure to always have your shit together. Life is unpredictable. For all the stories of triumph and resilience, there are just as many stories of failure and getting lost. The addict relapses. The happy couple gets divorced. The one you’ve put on a pedestal lets you down. Finding the love of your life doesn’t solve your problems. You know the expression, the only way out is through? These songs are me making my way through. Giving myself permission to not have the answers. Letting myself feel it all. The pain, the joy, the confusion, the bittersweet in-between…I learned that uncertainty can be an open door. And that change is a constant invitation I want to learn to accept.” Tarver used the downtime spurred by the pandemic to delve into not only self-examination but also observations of her own experiences of being in her early 30s and working in the entertainment industry that values youth. “As I was writing and exploring all the emotions that went into this album, I finally got to the point of admitting that there’s so much I don’t have figured out — which is really scary, but also incredibly freeing,” she says. “The reality is that none of us knows what we’re doing; we’re all just trying our best. It’s been a big deal to let myself be open to being in progress like that, and I hope these songs can be a friend to anyone facing uncertainty or change. That’s what they’ve been for me.”
Tarver spoke with B-Sides host Pete Mar about recently celebrating another birthday, how her perspective on life has evolved as she’s gotten older, how it inspired the new album and more.
