Lydia Cole

It's been a long while
Lovely way to spend a day
Music still makes sense

(A haiku)

I met Deva Mahal on Instagram in 2024. She was in my DMs and helping boost what I was sharing in an effort to make our industry safer from predators. She then asked me to add my voice to the backing vocals on her new song Someone's Daughter. It is a powerful song straight from the soul, tackling heartbreaking content with grace, Deva's voice and lyrics captivating. As well as that, her act of inclusion helped mend a little piece of my heart that year.

Someone's Daughter has just been released along with her brand new EP, I hope you take a listen!

Thank you, Deva, and congratulations ✨

Someone's Daughter Provided to YouTube by The Orchard EnterprisesSomeone's Daughter · Deva MahalFUTURE CLASSIC VOL ll: FUTURE℗ 2026 Deva MahalReleased on: 2026-03-27Producer: D...

🚨 SOCIAL MEDIA UPDATE 🚨

I'm done with Meta (Instagram, Facebook).
Morally, emotionally, mentally, I'm done.

So I've set up a Substack where I will post updates on my music. This will seamlessly absorb what was my mailing list (if you're subscribed to that, you'll simply keep receiving those emails!) and over at Substack everything I write will appear like a blog where you'll also be able to leave comments 💌

I've also set up a page at Bluesky, which I'll feel out over time. If there is an app/community you discover where people share good stuff, I would love to hear about it.

Here and on Instagram I've learned a lot that has helped me. I realised I was burned out because of an article someone shared. I've connected with many good souls, especially around , mental health and recovery from religion.

And having been chronically unwell, 95% of my socialising and connection has taken place here. But while it's time for me personally to start getting more social in the real world (phew), I do want to stay connected online, on some form of social media. This just ain't it.

I'm still processing this and I don't know what things will look like in two weeks, or a year. Maybe I'll regret this, I don't know. I'm just trying to follow my values and feed the world I want to see, rather than give up and just let the beast eat me alive.

So if you want to stay connected, please sign up to my Substack! ❤️ From there I'll keep up the music news, and when anything changes I'll let you know.

You can subscribe to my Substack here: https://open.substack.com/pub/lydiacole

Thanks so very much for having been here with me 🐞

PS: I think because of the content here, this post will not reach very far within the Meta algorithm so feel free to tell your friends who might like to know!