KAI NANFELT
MUSIC TO WEATHER THE STORM 
FEATURED MUSIC
“Down” is my newest song and my upcoming single. Unlike many of my earlier songs, which focused heavily on struggle, this one focuses on progress. Not perfection… progress.
The song is about accepting that healing is rarely linear. There are still difficult days and setbacks, but there are also more good days than there used to be. More than anything, the song is about learning to give yourself grace.
The line that best captures the song's message is: "Is it true that you don’t stop growing? Does it count when it goes this slowly?"
I’ve found recently that the answer is a resounding yes.
DOWN
“This was the first song I wrote directly about my own mental health. For years I was comfortable writing about other people, but writing about myself was harder. The song explores anxiety, comparison, self-sabotage, and the stories we tell ourselves.
One lyric that still resonates with me is: "I stack the deck up against my odds before they even deal out the cards."
That line captures something I've struggled with for much of my life: assuming failure before giving myself a chance to succeed. In many ways, this opportunity you've given me flies directly in the face of that old mindset. Even now, as I begin putting myself back out there, there's still a part of me that expects the worst before I've even been dealt the cards.”
HEAD RUSH
“This song was written overnight while I was in London after learning that my best friend was really struggling. I had been able to physically be there for him during previous mental health crises, but this time I was thousands of miles away and felt completely helpless. I couldn't sleep. So I stayed up all night and wrote him a song. The song was my way of saying: "I love you. I need you in my life. Please don't give up."
Over the years, I've had the opportunity to perform the song in settings focused on mental health awareness, including a fundraiser attended by Governor Dan McKee (where he signed this suicide prevention bill into effect). Experiences like that helped me realize that songs can take on a life of their own. What started as a letter to one person slowly became something that resonated with many others, and reinforced my belief that music can genuinely help people feel less alone.”
SOBER
“I wrote this song in 2023, a few years out of college. I was living in Boston again, and really struggling with my drinking. Someone commented on the fact that my clothes were too tight, and that I was gaining weight. That’s what inspired the hook, “My clothes don’t fit / but I won’t admit it / I drink so I don’t have to think about it.
The song is about the catch-22 of writing about mental health: knowing what’s wrong, knowing what you need to do to fix it, and yet not having the ability to do it. I think that’s very representative of what depression really is, and how it impacts people’s lives. It’s the disease of inaction, for which the only cure, in my opinion, is action, which I didn’t feel capable of at the time.
As my most recent release before “Down,” I see it as the “big brother” of that song. The little brother learned from the big brother’s mistakes.