carolesdaughter

Thea Taylor is no model Mormon. Growing up in a strict religious household in Southern California, the youngest of 10 kids was tattooing and piercing herself by age 13. A few years later, the teen’s “bad little kid” habits, as she describes them, evolved into serious trouble: drug addiction and stints in rehab. But while in a six-month program in 2019, Taylor brought along her acoustic guitar. A deluge of introspective songwriting sessions ensued as the young artist channeled her feelings of melancholy and hopelessness into her music. She scribbled lamenting lyrics like “I think rock bottom’s fake, ‘cuz I’ve been here for a while now / Don’t think I’ll ever leave, ‘cuz pain just makes me smile now.” Once home, Taylor — who’d never publicly released any of her songs — decided to record and ...