Releasing an album full of vulnerable thoughts and expressions is daunting, but Amelie Lucille is shouldering that difficulty in stride with youthful energy, a deep relationship with her music, and wide-eyed optimism.

For the public, her journey is just beginning, with the recent release of her self-titled EP on June 15. You can listen to it on all platforms.

But for Lucille and her family, music has been around for years. She started learning piano at the age of five from Alastair Ottesen and began writing songs in the last few years.

As such, she never had a lightbulb moment where she decided that music could be more than a personal passion; it happened slowly over time. Her parents even provided the impetus for her debut EP.

“The idea of starting an album came from my parents as a Christmas gift,” she says. “I’ve been writing music for a long time. So releasing something was always something that I wanted to do.”

“It made me so happy to hear myself recorded professionally,” she says. “That was, of course, so exciting to see the songs that I’ve only heard with my voice and guitar come to life with instruments that I didn’t even think would be possible to add.”

She expressed gratitude for her producer, Joel Arnow. His experience as a producer and gentle delivery of feedback made the recording process smooth.

He suggested kicking up the tempo on “Because of You,” which marked a tonal difference from the rest of the album.

The rest of the EP is, as Lucille would put it, “depressing and all sad.” While those songs allow her plenty of space for her clear and emotive voice to shine through, it was impressive to see her take on a new style.

“I liked it so much more,” she says. “It’s one of my favorite songs on the album.”

She was happy to end the album on a flourish.

“I know how [challenging] the music industry is and how difficult it is,” she says. “I’ve been educated by my parents researching everything that I should know before entering. So I think I’m prepared, but I feel like I don’t even know what I would be prepared for, if that makes sense.”

With that said, she’s ready to take things one step at a time to create a sustainable relationship with her music. She feels it’s more important to learn more instruments and get more comfortable with songwriting rather than succumb to the pressure of releasing more music on streaming services.

Amelie Lucille is an excited young musician with the world at her fingertips. Usually, I’d say I’m excited to see what a musician is up to in the next six months or a year, but in Lucille’s case, I hope she takes her time, focuses on herself, and isn’t pushed too hard by the music industry’s aggressive status quo.