Bacchanalia Magazine

By Reb Jordin

Stella Scholaja, a pop singer songwriter, released her debut album ‘SEXY, INSANE, MIGHT RUIN YOUR LIFE’ on November 1^st as a manifestation of self-love and growth. The album weaves a tale of love and heartbreak, of magic nights written in the stars to the drought of the city that grounds listeners back in reality. It is an epic concept album, spanning three decades to tell a great yet tragic love tale of a siren and the sailor who fell for her song. Stella hasn’t just written an album, she’s written a tortured love story where the events become evocative poems and the melodies transport listeners back to the time of before, back to the time of the Siren.

Opening the album with the first single ‘Siren Of The Night’, a synth with the melody of an ancient sailor’s song introduces listeners to an ocean of stars, the world of this temptress. The Siren, laced with lust yet heavily naïve, calls on the Sailor to love and worship her as she craves the attention of another. He wades into the tide pools of her affection and drowns in the depths of her power, both Siren and Sailor will never be the same again. The next song, ‘White Horses By The Ocean’, with it’s enchanting melody and poetic lyricism spins the folk-like tale of the Siren losing her Sailor. She is desperate for love but can feel him slipping away. The song reflects on their night together, where the stars aligned, and he fell for her siren-song. The freedom land of the 70’s now seems like a distant memory. The lyrics, ‘I’m in love with love’ highlight the Siren’s need for company and affection, she is a ‘hopeful romantic’ who lures men to the alter of her love. The song builds as the drumbeat grows and the lyrics become more heartbreaking whilst the story progresses. Addictive harmonies act like a primal chant, like a coven conjuring a spell to bring the Sailor back to the Siren.

The album picks up again with the 80’s infused synth of ‘Venus In Libra’. The whole single sounds like a beach party once the full moon dances across the night sky making the Siren spill all her secrets. The song is a spell of self-love, a prayer to Venus to heal her after the loss of the Sailor’s heart. Here Stella empowers listeners to try themselves to escape from the chains of heartbreak into the bliss of self-love. The singe ‘Lost In The Dunes’ brings the tone back to reality with a steady beat that juxtaposes the painstaking lyrics to add further layers to the track. The song tells of the curse of the situationship, ‘not all vampires suck blood, some just suck the life out of you’. The Siren is now barely surviving the drought of the Sailor’s love, she now feels weaker than the man she had previously enchanted and is thirsty for his affection.

The synth is back in full force with the single ‘Sexy, Insane & Might Ruin Your Life’. An anthem of girl-power, inspiring listeners to take charge of their life and not leave their heart in the hands of a man who will only torture it. The song acts as a warning to the Sailor, that she will either ruin his life or be the making of it. ‘She ain’t fragile like a flower, she’s fragile like a bomb’, she’s healed enough to see her worth and that her emotions only give her power as she is the siren who won’t be tainted by a mere man. She still wants his love but will not sacrifice her soul for it, only his. Soon we enter the world of ‘Make Believe, Cinnamon’, with a killer electric guitar reminiscent of a rock power ballad giving the single an 80’s infused sailor’s song vibe completely original to Stella’s addictive sound. The song conveys that once again the Sailor has changed his mind, he couldn’t handle the Siren’s wild nor forgive her temptress ways. He loved her to use her, keeping her hanging on as she hoped that she could change him. However, decades have passed, and the years have changed their souls. The haunting melodies of ‘Lone Wolf’ feel like floating through a forest at night, surrounded by shadows yet so beautifully alone. The Siren appears to be swimming through the worlds conjured within her poetry, saved by her art and content to live in her own mind whilst the Sailor struggles in a life of no attention. Stella’s breathtaking vocals are fully showcased within this track, beautifully controlled and addictive only drawing listeners in like the siren protagonist she has created.

‘She’s Wild, So Wild’ feels like a moment of realisation, where both Stella and the characters of her lyrics revel in their siren-like glory. The song is upbeat and electric only adding to it’s celebratory nature. ‘She’s Wild, So Wild’ is a full journey through self-reflection of past mistakes and where they have gotten her. She slowly realises not to hold onto regrets, as her actions are what have built her into this strong woman who can bring a man too his knees with just her voice and can communicate with the stars. She has realised who her true self is and she’s proud. The next song ‘Blackthorn’ is the true reveal of the album that not everything works out the way that you had hoped it would. The Siren is now just a daydream for the Sailor, someone he watches on the silver screen whilst she lives out her life of Hollywood stardom. She is now just a story for him to tell. Wherever she is she will always be haunted by what ifs also.

‘Arcade’ is the final song and a reflection of the entire album. The Siren is looking back on her life of love and love lost. To that night in the 70’s where she enchanted an unknowing sailor, to their meeting again and short love affair in the 80’s, and to the 90’s where their souls still taunt one another, always linked together by an invisible string of magic and astrology. The waves tell their story, the forest whispers their inner thoughts, and the old arcade immortalises the memory of these two tortured lovers time refused to stand still for. Does she regret the power of her siren song? Or does she look back on this life of passion with older eyes and a wizened heart and is glad of the person she’s become? A synth infuses nostalgia within the song, mirroring the Siren as she reflects on her wild life.

So go and listen to the flawless album to immerse yourself in a story for the ages and melodies that will never leave you.