Features : Peace and comfort blow in on Nicole-Marie’s “Ocean Breeze”

“Ocean Breeze,” the song by Nicole-Marie off her EP Roars, Flames and Embers, is such a beautiful, calming acoustic track that you would never know it was inspired by dental trauma.

Dental trauma, and the sounds of the dental office — the drill, something that sounds like suction — explains the line that says, “There’s a voice that’s demonic.”

“I was under the influence of nitrous oxide,” said Nicole-Marie, “and it was the sound that’s — well, demonic — but I pretended it was an ocean breeze. I thought, ‘Okay, that’s just an ocean breeze washing over me.’”

I am one with the morning
I am one with the world
And my soul is exploring
The ocean breeze that has unfurled

“I have so much dental trauma that I cope by making up songs while I’m under the influence of nitrous oxide. I feel like if I go to the dentist, I’m at least gonna get a good song out of it for going through all that pain and misery.”

There’s a voice that’s demonic but I am focusing
On ocean breeze in the distance blowing evil far from me

It’s a great story. Hearing her tell it, and listening to the song, it’s also believable. But evil is real for her, both in her personal experience — having lived through 25 years of narcissistic abuse — and in her day work as a social worker and mental health therapist specializing in trauma.

“There’s still stuff I’m deprogramming from, and I’m still in recovery from that situation, but there are situations in the world that are not ‘just’ narcissistic abuse, but psychopathic and sociopathic abuse as well.”

“I’m expanding the metaphor to mean the demonic presence in the world,” she said.

“Ocean Breeze” is a way of calming the soul, combatting the mental, spiritual presence of evil, whether it’s fanciful, like hearing Satan in a dental drill, or the much more destructive kind that is all too common in what she calls “the 3D world.”

The song features slow, melodic rhythms of guitar, banjo, and mandolin, timed by drums beating at the pace of a heart at rest. Nicole-Marie’s lyrics are delivered in her deep, soothing voice. Doug Rusk is a featured vocalist on the track and is also the lead guitarist.

She and Rusk are also featured in the video, produced by Smokescreen Media.

“I was really impressed with them. I’m going to work with them on another video soon,” she said.

Nicole-Marie’s voice can climb. It has changed since she lost all hearing in her left ear more than a decade ago. Her right ear loses hearing intermittently and sometimes, she says, she is legally deaf.

“I used to be a first soprano when I did choir in high school. Since my hearing loss, I’ve become more like an alto. I’ve learned to sing in that method — I don’t know what it’s called, actually — but you hear by feeling the vibration in your body. On some of those notes, I might not even be able to hear what I’m hitting.”

Abuse, hearing loss, cancer. She has survived and is recovering still from a great deal of evil herself. Her music and her life are conducted in accordance with her spirituality, which is at heart a non-denominational Christianity influenced by a pan-spiritual outlook and yogic and other influences.

Christianity is fractured, a “divided kingdom,” she says, and needs to be much less judgmental, which is inherently divisive, “because we don’t want to be conquered by being divided.”

“I want to inspire other people to make the highest vibrational choices for their lives,” which she defines as making life choices and decisions out of “gratitude, love, joy, contentment,” rather than out of fear, anger or guilt.

“Ocean Breeze” is the lead single she is promoting from Roars, Flames and Embers, but two other songs from the EP hold special meaning for her.

“Pour out the Oil” was inspired by Kim Clement’s prophetic writings on the biblical Esther. The song features a woman, she said, who would “pour out the oil, pour out healing to the world.”

“I wanted to put in influences of biblical women, powerful women,” she said. “So I put Esther in a verse, and then Mary of Bethany, in a verse. Both were powerful biblical women. I wanted to focus on that and what I think will be the return of the divine feminine.”

She added, “And I’m not referring to the Barbie movie.”

The other song is “Beyond the Stars.”

“That one was written in the voice of God. I wrote it after experiencing some workplace bullying. It’s like God speaking to me, saying, ‘I know who you really are, no matter what other people call you, or say about you. I know who you really are.’ It’s about forgiveness, too, of the bullies and of anybody that has to live in this crazy world. I think it’s a very healing song.”

Nicole-Marie has been putting out music since 2003. Her catalogue includes six albums and EPs and several singles. She lists her genre as “spiritual folk rock” and those are all present, each by itself sometimes, sometimes in combination.

She has performed live, but not since the pandemic. She is dealing with a case of performance anxiety but wants to perform again. She especially wants to go on a tour.

That reality is in a world that lies a little way down the road.

In the 3D world of now, there is promoting “Ocean Breeze” and Roars, Flames and Embers and, also, “I’m working on my next music video. That’s where my immediate attention is.”

“But beyond that, I hope to do some shows, get over some of my fears and inspire others to face their fears and get over them."

Connect with Nicole-Marie on all platforms for new music, videos, and social posts.

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