Cheryl O'Neill - Aftermath (2019)

After going through a hell of a year, Cheryl began writing. And writing. And writing some more. Soon enough, she had dozens of songs, all circulating around the common theme of trauma. The process of songwriting was extremely healing from the scars left from that year and resulted in a 16-track album. While one might assume a concept album that focuses on trauma would be dark and melancholy, Cheryl made sure to include songs you can dance to in the living room ("Nice Guy", "Gemini"), some fun jams ("Trauma", "You Don't Care"), some fiddle-driven folk ("Miss You", "Held by a Thread"), and some heartbreaking ballads "Gravity, Darling", Breaking Daisies"). This album shows the many facts of trauma and coping, from first coming face-to-face with loss ("Aftermath"), to finding how it still affects you a year later ("Wires (Interlude)). In creating this album, Cheryl found so much healing and hopes listeners experience similar feelings of being understood and the hope of healing.