KENNEDY Soundtracks the Nostalgia of Latest Film from Odessa A'zion, POOLS
Amongst the buzz of I Love LA and the upcoming release of Marty Supreme, our latest fave, Odessa A’zion has also just starred in an indie, coming-of-age film, POOLS. Music is inseparable from the narrative, with A’zion’s character writing and performing her own songs throughout the movie. With equal parts vulnerability and wit, Pools tells the story of falling apart, finding the pieces, and giving yourself permission to put them back together in a totally different order than they were in before.
Songwriter and artist, KENNEDY, wrote two songs specifically for POOLS, one of which has just hit streaming platforms, called “Beautiful Broken Unusual.” The song is built around a resonant acoustic guitar, coasting wide across the soundscape to fill each corner with bright, warm tones. It perfectly complements KENNEDY’s vocal, which sits close to the front of the mix, delivered like a story being told late at night. There’s a reminiscence of early Billie Eillish in the sound, which gives an inherent nostalgia to the already-coming-of-age song.
“In 2020, I got a phone call from one of my best friends, Sam Hayes, telling me he was making a movie called “POOLS” and he wanted me to write a song for it. He sent me the script and I fell in love with the story and the characters. The film follows the main character, “Kennedy” (my twin!), as she confronts grief, existential dread, and a thrashing against what’s expected of her. “Beautiful Broken Unusual” became a love letter to the main character and a reminder that we’re all just stardust floating around in space and we should be living our lives for ourselves.” (KENNEDY, on writing two songs for ‘POOLS’)
KENNEDY lets her songwriting speak for itself in “Beautiful Broken Unusual,” keeping the production centered around the guitar and vocals. She adds cinematic touches of cascading melodies and cavernous background vocals, but leaves room for listeners to find themselves in the narrative lyrics: “I wanna live like I’m dying, if only once…”
“Beautiful Broken Unusual” was birthed from me reflecting about how beautifully authentic we are when we’re born and all the ways the world tries to bend us into something else. It feels like the bird's eye view of a day in a life begging to be lived. (KENNEDY, on “Beautiful Broken Unusual”)
Made especially for a transformative indie film, “Beautiful Broken Unusual” will strike a chord in anyone discovering or rediscovering their own reflection.
