Sarah Yagki Walks Us Through Her New EP, 'I Love You, I Lied'

Can’t Decide  

I wrote this track during lockdown, and I was living with someone who, at the time I was experiencing heartbreak week in and week out while feeling isolated from the world at the same time. When I spoke to a friend about the relationship recently, he replied, “I don’t know the good; I barely spoke to you during the relationship”. 

That hit me, and Can’t Decide gives an insight into what I felt in that relationship. I tried to make it work again and again. I loved someone so dearly and believed in them to the point that I was trying to reassure them that we could do this. They couldn’t decide on us, so this song became a track to look at the good between them and me. 

When I write, I write with a strong visual representation in my mind over the track. For me, this track is about holding your hand out, waiting for them to put their hand in yours, and the song ends not knowing whether that ended up happening or not.  

There’s an original recording of the track while I was singing it in the same room as that very person during lockdown. In that original recording, the last line, “Say something”, I wrote on the spot, and you can hear me typing away. The song stops when I start crying, as the person who I’m writing it about is right in front of me.  

There’s a beauty with writing, where you can tear and wear your heart on your sleeve, feel every bit of pain, and translate it into music. That’s what this EP is, which is why it’s the first track.  

Can’t Decide started off as a track that, on first writing it, broke me into tears. You can hear it now, and it is this light track that lets the hope of the story come out without diminishing the beauty of the melancholy of reaching your hand out to someone who you don’t know will ever put their hand out for you.

Sick Of You  

The first part of the song that came to me was the chorus. I remember sitting down and writing the track on my piano and knowing instantly that this track was one that I was going to release.  

To this day, it is the fastest song that has come from songwriting to production to release. I had such a strong idea of the track’s soundscape and how I wanted it to sound. 

I was lucky to get in the studio with Nico Scali in Marrickville, who helped me create the production of the track and understood my vision of what I wanted. Nico is extremely humble in his talents and is also a member of the band Loretta. 

It was my first time working with him, and was not my last. In the studio, I felt like my creativity and vision of the song were understood, encouraged, and brought into the track by Nico. 

Sick Of You has resonated with fans in a way I didn’t expect, and I’ve had fans tell me their own stories through connecting with the track, which has been incredible. 

I wrote this track after having a close friend do something that completely changed the dynamic of the friendship and not knowing how to deal with it. 

I didn’t know how to process my emotions, feelings, and the story – so instead, I wrote it out.

Truly  

Truly is my favourite and most personal track on the EP. I wrote the track and had Yianni Adams produce it. Yianni is one of the most humble, caring and talented producers and musicians I have ever had the pleasure of not just working with but being friends with. It was the first track we did together, and Yianni is in a band Kyoshi which is more neo-soul. 

As a pop artist, I wanted to work with a producer that could challenge and create something unique with me – and that is exactly what we did. Truly is about my experiences in an emotionally abusive relationship and the feelings that I went through with that. I wanted to create this track with so much purpose behind every sound, lyric and note. 

Truly is a desperate plea for the other person to stop hurting your heart, and it creates a  soundscape of being so trapped in a space like that, and really trying to fight out of it. Truly is a plea to myself, the other person and to others on being able to climb out of where it feels lowest, to see light when it seems darkest, and find warmth in yourself when everything surrounding you feels cold. 

Ecstasy  

I’ve been performing the tracks that are featured on the EP for the last few months, both before and after the recording stage of them. When I perform the songs, it gives me an idea of how they both resonate with a crowd and resonate with me. 

The core of my band is made up of both my drummer, Anthony and guitarist, Ethan. However, my bassist and backing vocalist Evie has been one of the longest members on this journey with me, including Ethan. We currently have a new member Nick, who is now starting this journey in the band with us but has been a long-time friend and collaborator with me. 

To have a band that is supportive, and caring and I can feel like they are passionate about my music too, makes all the difference. Without constant practising and performing with the band, I can’t imagine how any of the tracks on the EP will be today. The band constantly pushes me to challenge my creative decisions and write at a higher and higher level every time.  

In saying this, the track Ecstasy was a direct result of the process of collaboration with the band. Ethan Holland early on in his journey with the band wrote the track with me. I dragged him into a room to write, and he made it clear that he hadn’t had much experience in writing songs. But I believed in his ability, his talent, and his drive to want to be more. So, we went into a room and wrote the track Ecstasy in one session. From that, we played it with the band, brainstormed the chord arrangements, and how we wanted it to sound, and he featured playing on the track with me. The track didn’t just come from my own experiences; it came from a shared passion and belief Ethan and I both believed in each other’s abilities, talents, and the vulnerability to write together.

I Love You, I Lied  

This is the title track of the EP and is the final song. 

Recently, I experienced heartbreak that let me find new meaning in this song. This song was originally written about when you are stuck in a relationship just because it is comfortable. I listen to this song with a new set of feelings, finding comfort in my own words, knowing that when someone else says that they love you, and you know they’ve lied to you – you are always going to be the stronger one in that situation. It is not a flaw to open your heart out and let someone else in, it is not a flaw to love someone and fight for that to work. 

When someone else takes advantage of that, it does not mean to shut off, it means to find strength in knowing the love that you can give, and just because they had lied to you with those words, does not mean you lied. 

I Love You, I Lied is out now. You can listen to it below.