The latest album, ‘Gateway Experience’ by Canadian songwriter Witch Prophet explores the human mind’s inner facultiesβ particularly the psychological journey filled with twists and turns that moulded her into the musician she is known today.
Also known by her real name Ayo Leilani, the singer performs under the stage name ‘Witch Prophet’ β a fitting description and persona for the creator of an album that takes its listeners on a transcendental adventure that mashes together the physical and spiritual universe in perfect musical harmony.
The overall essence of Gateway Experience is to invoke feelings of inner reflection and self-awareness in its listeners. Kicking the album off is the first track titled ‘Lucid’; sure enough, the song stays true to its name.
Guided by a sombre melody, the first entry in the album introduces the eventual mysticism and wonder of the succeeding tracks. Songs such as ‘Dizzy’ and ‘Aura’ combine lo-fi musicality with themes that resonate for an extended period of time.
The album is based on a case in the United States filed in the 1980s that investigates the ‘Gateway Experience’ phenomenon. The term describes the emergence of a trend called ‘astral projection’ wherein several individuals are able to have out-of-body experiences and cross over into the metaphysical realm β bending their personal realities according to their own wills.
As unreal as it sounds, lately, discussions surrounding the Gateway Experience have been growing in online communities, with users sharing their thoughts, reactions, and theories on the mystery surrounding the case.
The interest and curiosity for the case allowed Witch Prophet to share her musicality and inner experiences through the creation of the album Gateway Experience. Through the album, she could share her struggles with focal aware seizures that intensified in 2009.
The condition affected Witch Prophet’s speech, vision, and ability to move without disrupting her consciousness. The result was an inclination to psychological experiences such as lucid dreams, out-of-body sensations, dΓ©jΓ vu, and many other side effects.
The third album on her repertoire, Gateway Experience, contains the signature musical style Witch Prophet incorporated into her previous works. The songs on the album masterfully blend different genres, such as jazz, soul, and hip-hop, mixed with an ambient feel that mimics the dream-like state enabled by her condition.
Talking about the album, Witch Prophet said, “If I came out with an album like this five or six years ago, it would probably be a little too witchy or woo woo, but seeing people on TikTok saying: ‘Wow, lucid dreaming is real. There are other dimensions, and there are other things that we don’t know about.’ It made it a lot less scary to talk about.”
Indeed, the awakening of society towards progressiveness has unlocked the artistry of Witch Prophet. She beautifully translates her personal experiences when facing the inner depths of her psyche into a musical flow that makes the same experience relatable to anyone who allows Gateway Experience to enter their inner selves by embracing its excellent mix of rhythmic beats and a melody that speaks to the soul.
