VERIDIA’S NEW RELEASE BLOOD DIAMOND IS ROUGH AROUND THE EDGES

Though this declared pandemic has paused or redirected some paths, independent bands like VERIDIA are still sending art into this world, at their own cost.  It’s in the form of meaningful lyric, enriched with a combination of cultural and rock sounds, in a time we probably need it most.

 

“This is me, pulling my heart out of my chest to reveal a brilliant, abstract, diamond heart,” Deena Jakoub says about her band VERIDIA’s new single – Blood Diamond – released April 3rd. Before hearing it, the title can be misconstrued as dark and negative; a circumstance of war. But the lyrics actually represent a won war within oneself, after learning the depths of love. A potentially painful process, if cleaving reveals unworthiness due to the miscommunication of value.

 

And Deena does reach inside her purest self, inspecting her own lessons from loving without a deep understanding that imperfections and adversities do construct valuable partnerships. Sitting here, I’m illuminated by that open heart of hers, as she admits to letting the discoveries of her own flaws dictate some of her relationship. She expounds that just as a diamond’s cut is a labor of precision, so is truly excavating the core of another’s love language.

 

This is further denoted in VERIDIA’s lyrics “Cut me deep where it hurts / in the depths of my earth / in my core, in my dirt / ‘til I see what I’m worth.” Such polished lines came from Deena doing some hard-introspective work on herself, as she got down to the gritty truth that she was causing some of her own wounds.

 

She elaborates for me. Because she was doubting her own capacity of love to give, half-smiling at her trite use of the phrase, “I felt like I wasn’t enough” – she concludes, “I was inevitably putting pressure on a special someone to fill the gaps of my self-worth.” It was only when she decided to dig through the holes of her despair, inadvertently making this person feel the pain of how she felt, that she embarked on the journey to heal. Realizing this, made her examine the history of tender acts her heart forgot to track. She was letting feelings of inadequacies stop light from passing through. There was clarity in recognizing that certain hardships made them more valuable to one another.

 

Deena vows that “the more vulnerable I am with others, the more I am open to receiving love in the way its presented.”  Deena reshapes our narrative, with conviction, “Love becomes more discernable when I focus on how much I can give, instead of how little I am getting.” Much like a diamond, she started to see the light reflect back.

 

The lead singer and gifted writer goes on to tell us not to fear the thought of disappointments in relationships or in our lives. “That’s impossible!” She says. Rather, we should seek to understand that strong relationships are built from clear communication. Once we rid ourselves of expectations or have those uncomfortable conversations, we are able to faithfully respond with forgiveness, compassion, and empathy. The Japanese art of Kintsugi is referenced in further analysis, which is another influential element to the song and to Deena’s point. I learn, such admired art is made from reassembling broken pottery by filling its cracks with gold, highlighting its rich history. It appears that sometimes we need to Kintsugi our connections, retelling our love stories again and again to each other and to ourselves. We are capable of remolding, too.

 

“I am enough. My love is enough. The more I express it, the less I demand it, and the more naturally I’ll receive it,” she says, reminding us that our hearts are not commodity. Love is the most precious thing in the world, similar to the rareness of a diamond…. there’s a process of time and exertion that goes into making it valuable. You can exchange and rebuild both at expensive costs, and, yet, the difference is love is priceless.

 

And that isn’t all that’s mystifying about this song. Sonically the song lives somewhere between an exotic urban street track and an arena rock anthem. You’ll also hear Deena sing in Arabic, unearthing an honor to her heritage for the first time. An oud is prominently featured behind such words:

 

أغلعى حاجة في الدنيا هي الحب

الحب غالي

 

Translated: “Love is the most precious need in the world. Love is expensive.”

While she emphasizes that she is not fluent, but would like to be. VERIDIA reiterates the message that the value of love is universal. And in doing so, Deena feels closer to her father – using music as the medium it can sometimes be in connecting us with loved ones and our world. Deena’s father did unfortunately pass, but he lives on, present, in parts of this song.

 

Fans can return back to VERIDIA’s historical roots, as the chorus’ heavy guitars remind us why we want to yell out “Blood Diamond” with them and to everyone.

 

If human to human connection is what you’re clinging to, during these trying times, then this song might speak to an aesthetic of existence, which is our beating hearts. It’s no denying that it can take a lifetime to learn that our hearts are the most guarded, brilliant and abstract parts of us. Love is expensive, yet priceless, and VERIDIA’s music reminds us its so so worth it.

This is their

new song, Blood Diamond

دي الأغنية الجديدة بتاعتنا، الماسة الدم