AMAARA, the moniker of Canadian-born singer, songwriter, producer, filmmaker, and actor Kaelen Ohm (she/they). The captivating multi-disciplinarian has unveiled her striking debut full-length Child of Venus through her own label Lady Moon Records.
Child of Venus is a bold and unforgettable collection that is sure to enthrall listeners and leave a mark on anyone who hears it, in the best way possible.
Recorded in 2021 in the same spare bedroom studio as the Heartspeak EP and mixed by Nyles Spencer (Alvvays, July Talk) at legendary Canadian band The Tragically Hip’s Bathhouse Studio in Bath, Ontario, the 9-track collection highlights Ohm’s capacity for crafting soulfully deep engaging songs. Classic-era dream pop at its core, the album draws influence from jazz, R&B, and folk music with reverb-drenched guitars, soaring synths, layered vocal harmonies, and expansive percussion.
Work on Child of Venus began when Ohm—who also maintains an active career in acting alongside her music—was finishing filming a TV series in Israel and was bitten by the creative bug:
“I felt like it was time for me to make music again.” She flew back to Calgary and decamped to the studio, where she wrote, produced, and recorded the album’s nine songs. “I’m not someone who stockpiles songs or writes when I’m not making a record,” she explains. “When it’s time to make an album, I go in and write everything as I go.” Even so, the creative process for Child of Venus found Ohm journeying deeper within her artistic spirit than ever before: “I found myself in a period of time where nothing was interrupting my schedule or creative process, and the songs just kept coming.”
Child of Venus is the culmination of a lifetime of artistic pursuits – a document of rediscovery and transition, with Kaelen Ohm coming up for air as an artist and human being truly reborn. As AMAARA, Ohm is reflecting on love and loss throughout Child of Venus, as well as the healing power of pure psychedelia and the act of connecting with her inner child—which has led her to reflect on her own adolescence at large.
“I’ve been on a journey of looking into my own childhood conditioning, and the notion of unbounded creative genius as well as where that goes wrong in adolescence,” she explains. “It’s a reflective period marked by the question of who I was at the core of myself before I started to be shaped by my environment.”
Listen to Child of Venus below and learn more about Amaara via our Five Questions With segment.
Care to introduce yourself to our readers?
I’m Kaelen (Amara) Ohm. I’m a musician, actor, and filmmaker.
Tell us a bit about your most recent release.
Child of Venus is my first official LP release. It’s an album that spans themes of childhood, heartache, healing, and psychedelia. It feels like the record that has sonically realized AMAARA as a project. I’m excited to share it with the world.
Where do you tend to pull inspiration from when writing?
I usually write in the studio when I’m actively making a record. The songs seem to show up when I make that kind of space for them. I don’t sit down to write songs on a day-to-day basis – it doesn’t happen for me that way. Writing is guided and inspired by my own experience and my interpretation of experience – I suppose the deeper I live, the more I have to pull from when it’s time to record.
Do you have any upcoming shows you’d like to tell us about?
I am dreaming up a band right now. I haven’t played a show since before the pandemic and this record is really pulling me to make that happen.
What’s your goal for 2023?
To listen more. To slow down. And to get a band together.