SHAED (Photo by Jared Zagha)
DC trio SHAED releases a brand-new single, “Once Upon a Time,” featuring FAME’S Macedonian Symphonic Orchestra.
SHAED’s Chelsea Lee, and twin brothers Max and Spencer Ernst (Lee’s husband) self-produced the stirring ballad in their home-studio and directed the 13-piece FAME’S Macedonian Symphonic Orchestra alongside renowned composer Jherek Bischoff (Brian Eno, Angel Olsen) via Zoom.
Carried by Chelsea’s warm vocals, verses build with plucking and swaying strings before crashing into the song’s wide-open choruses, culminating in a final, soundtrack-worthy, orchestral movement. The track comes from the band’s highly anticipated debut album — due out April 16 via Photo Finish Records.
Watch the official music video for “Once Upon a Time” by SHAED on YouTube:
SHAED provides insights into the song in a statement:
“‘Once Upon a Time’ is about the tragic nature of being young and in love. In our youth, there’s an untapped well of ever-changing emotions that wants to spill out. First relationships are filled with intense feelings of love, hope, doubt, and regret. In the blink of an eye, you go from believing you’ll die in that person’s arms, to watching the walls of the foundation you built crumble around you.
“Remembering our first relationships feels like swimming in a golden haze of fragile beauty. We wanted this song and the music video to capture that feeling.”