Song Spotlight: X. ARI's Vicious (a night Bar Lubitsch)

X. ARI (moniker for Daniella Waters) approaches her music performances like that of a revival church pastor out to convert souls. Her message isn't religious in nature; however, but is about mental health. She runs a non-profit called Wisdo Mania Foundation. The website says the following, "X. ARI’s life purpose is to inspire hope in others by writing her story in her music, sharing her experiences publicly, and providing resources for recovery." 

X. ARI at Bar Lubitsch

This was on full display at a WFNM showcase at Bar Lubitsch. From the very first song ("Magnetic"), she had her arms raised high and swaying to the electronic dance beats, "I feel magnetic. You're pulling me closer to you." She knows how to make the moves that are perfect for a photographer to have some fun with the camera. On a totally unrelated topic, I just realized that my work laptop has magnets inside of it. I was holding a paper clip near the laptop recently and started to feel the paper clip drawn towards it. This realization only took a few years to figure out.

Her song "Next To You" was dedicated to her wife Anja. It is an anthem song to how difficult it can be to find the love of your life, but all those experiences of trying to find the love of your life results in being able to find that person who is next to you for good. 

X. ARI at Bar Lubitsch

"Vicious" is the song that she had just released at the time of her set. Via an Instagram post, she wrote that the song was released for Mental Health Month, "It’s about winning the fight with your inner critic. It can be a hard feat to overcome self criticism and find our path to self love & compassion." The song had her vocals echoing across the venue walls while her body movement had her attacking those internal demons.

I gotta learn some forgiveness
My mind can be fucking vicious

If interested, Waters also has another project called CHA$E 13 that I happened to catch a couple months prior to this particular set. 

X. ARI at Bar Lubitsch

Setlist: Magnetic, Dancing Till My Tears Dry, Take Me Home, Next To You, Vicious, Stage Fright, Cattle Call, Cheerios.