Premiere: Kailey Conner Soothes The Ache Of “Existential Dread”
It’s rare these days to meet someone who doesn’t feel like they’re barely keeping their head above water, trapped between the longing for a meaningful life and the pressure to stay professionally driven. Whether it’s just making ends meet or carving out a single moment to breathe, we are stretched too thin, a situation that leaves ample space for burnout, self-doubt, and unhealthy habits to creep in. What’s worse, too much of this pressure is self-inflicted. We set up imaginary obstacles, hold ourselves to arbitrary standards, and convince ourselves they matter because the consequences feel real in our minds. Clear one hurdle and the elation fades in the face of the next towering obstacle. Fall short and you’re left alone with a relentless inner critic, one always ready to pounce with cruel precision. It’s an isolating cycle, made all the more painful by a quiet realization: this feeling of drowning isn’t unique. It’s everywhere. It’s all of us.
It’s a difficult truth, one made heavier by the absence of simple solutions. But not every hardship demands an answer. Sometimes, all it needs is room. Room to sit with the discomfort. Room to be acknowledged without judgment. Room to remind us that struggling isn’t a personal failure, but part of being human. What moments like this truly require is care, understanding, and grace. Each of those can take countless forms: a warm meal, a carefree game, an escape into a good film… or a song that speaks directly to that quiet ache. “Existential Dread,” the poignant new single from Richmond singer-songwriter Kailey Conner, is exactly one of those songs. Radiant and prudent, it’s a song that doesn’t aim to do anything except meet you where you are, steady and soft like a friend sitting beside you in comfort.
Set for release on Friday, June 20, this new song serves as an anthem that helps you learn to be okay with not being okay, offering musical encouragement that gives you permission to pause as the world around and within demands you to move on. Today, The Auricular is proud to premiere this new song ahead of its official release, with an exclusive stream below alongside a closer look at the song’s quiet power and refreshingly measured perspective.
Delivered with the delicateness of an understanding hug, “Existential Dread” is built around a simple and stirring guitar line as the lyrics relay the feeling of hopeless exasperation. “Is it all a fever dream to wake-up from,” Conner wonders in the first verse, following images of nervous tics and numb detachment. Each line lands with quiet intensity–not through dramatic revelations or sweeping declarations, but through the subtle expression of emotions we’re often taught to suppress. Feelings meant to be buried. Pushed aside. Endured in silence. But that is precisely what this song refuses to do. Instead, it leans into vulnerability without apology. “I’m worn down / Can you build me up again? / ‘Cause I don’t know if I can,” Conner pleads in the chorus, delivering a tender earworm wrapped around one of the most human and often hardest requests: help.
As the song continues, Conner’s words carry a comforting familiarity, making it clear that this struggle is not a solitary one but shared by many (“Hits you by surprise\ No time for warning signs\ I’m standing still but the years keep passing by“). This universal experience has the power to unite rather than isolate us, displayed in the subtle switch from observational verses to conversational chorus. It reminds listeners that these feelings are common, and far from something to be ashamed of.
Crafted with clear precision and delivered with subtlety, the song finds its strength in a balanced tempo and measured volume. There’s no grand crescendo or dramatic shift. Instead, “Existential Dread” moves with elegance and restraint, allowing each line to settle and resonate. By the end, the chorus becomes a gentle mantra, one that richly blurs the line between plea and affirmation. “Strike a match for me, my friend,” Conner sings… not just asking for light but for connection, a reminder that healing often starts with someone simply standing beside you.
The writing of the song dates back to 2020, when professional and personal obligations collided in one of the most anxiety-filled periods in recent history. “I was feeling very burnt out and unfulfilled with my job in healthcare, where I had minimal work/life balance mixed with a high-stress environment,” Conner shared. Out of that emotional exhaustion came a simple, evocative guitar line that soon became a favorite of hers, melodically anchoring the lyrics that would take shape over the next two years. She completed the song in early 2022, surprised by how it grew beyond its moment of origin.
“What started off as my ‘pandemic depression song’ morphed into something that isn’t tied down to a specific time or place,” Conner said. “I think it’s pretty relatable to anyone who has gone through a rut, lacked motivation, and/or felt their mortality creeping in. As the chorus suggests, seeking out comfort from friends/family was helpful, even if it was just to commiserate.”
That sentiment lies at the heart of the song’s impact, blending compassion, refuge, empathy, and solace in a way that strengthens your resolve while gently softening your flaws… or rather, all of our flaws. By embracing these qualities instead of fixating on quick fixes and answers, the song fuels the journey ahead, providing that extra push to help you clear each hurdle in succession, this time with a hopeful ease that makes the path feel more balanced and ultimately, more rewarding.
“Existential Dread” is the first single from Kailey Conner since 2023, a year framed by the reflective singles “Absentminded” and “Sensitive.” This new song serves as the lead single to her forthcoming EP, Who I’ve Become, due out Friday, August 1st. Recorded and mixed by Jacob Sommerio at English Oak Recording, the four-song project follows a pivotal period for Conner, one that included the birth of her first child and a rising local profile that has seen stand-out sets at North By Northwest, the Richmond Writers Round, and The Auricular’s own 5th Anniversary Finale.
As Conner continues to refine her sound and grow her presence, “Existential Dread” serves as a powerful reminder of music’s ability to comfort, connect, and inspire hope during life’s toughest moments. It reveals that the burden of exhaustion is a collective experience, often hidden in plain sight around us. The key to carrying that weight forward lies in finding strength through presence: acknowledging the struggle rather than denying it, and allowing yourself to move forward… at whatever pace feels right for you.
“Existential Dread” is set for release on Friday, June 20th, which you can pre-save now by clicking here. Kailey Conner’s upcoming EP, Who I’ve Become, arrives on August 1st and can also be pre-saved by clicking here. To stay up-to-date on future releases and news from Kailey Conner, make sure to follow her on social media.
