Indie outfit Van Plating looks beyond the idea of soulmates to examine the importance of various types of love and relationships on "Standing Still," the latest from the new recording project between Florida-based singer-songwriter Rachel Plating and writing partner Bradley Walden.
The breezy, country-tinged indie pop song will appeal to fans of Kacey Musgraves' Golden Hour and Jenny Lewis' On the Line.
Plating says the song, the new single from her forthcoming self-titled album (out on November 15), was inspired by a conversation about love and distance between friends and being brave enough to forge real relationships — even when it's scary.
"This particular song started out as a conversation, sparked by absence and distance between friends.Sometimes you just keep missing each other, either by phone, text or for whatever reason. We grow together in our little circles, and sometimes we grow apart. And I think that oftentimes in relationships (even as adults), we're afraid to verbalize and show affection for one another, especially if it's tender or brand new. It's terribly true that in Western culture, we're all in for idealized romantic love, but we limit our idea of 'love' to one iteration (i.e. 'soulmates' or 'the one')," Van Plating tells Wide Open Country. "In doing so, we miss out on some of the best relationships that life has to offer. It takes more than one relationship to make a life, you know? Intimacy is scary. We doubt ourselves and our own worth in relationships, and poise with pure conjecture: 'What will the other person say or think? Am I being too much? Will they leave? Is it safe to be honest with this person?' But we need it so badly, and we must learn to lean in. And it is so worth the risk! We need it more than most of the things we think we need. I'm not saying everyone has to be friends, but when you find another human who sees you as you are and loves what they see - a person that inspires you to be better - that's a person worth keeping around. We all need reassurance sometimes, and no matter the distance we are apart, we need to be here for each other. That's what 'Standing Still' is all about."
Listen to "Standing Still" below.
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