Kid Lake on Impermanent Pain, Capturing Change and Looking Back with Kindness

PHOTOS BY LEXI YOB

Ellie Long is truly at her best. She is wearing a thousand hats — contributing to the upcoming Grumpy album, creating tons of new music under her artist name Kid Lake and touring around Europe singing with Zach Bryan. I was able to catch up with Long, in between shows about Kid Lake’s upcoming EP I Woke Up More Beautiful Today — a work that was born out of Long’s transition and marking her journey in discovering aspects of her trans identity.  

“I think this should be good,” she said over FaceTime, motioning towards a small stoop. Long sat down with a huge smile, her face reflecting the city lights, “Copenhagen is amazing.” 

I Woke Up More Beautiful Today packs deep, reflective story telling into four tracks, some of which Long has been sitting on for as long as five years. Maybe that’s what makes each track feel so grown — the writing process started before Long transitioned, yet was completed post transition. Long spoke highly of all the contributors to the EP, specifically highlighting Torri Weidinger’s recent cello addition. For her, Weidinger's harmonies and arrangements gave I Woke Up More Beautiful Today the final push to the finish line and made the tracks feel “put-outable.” 

PHOTOS BY LEXI YOB

The EP reads like a well-made quilt — woven and soft, yet structured and hearty, with dreamy, cascading melodies and special sonic moments. Long is able to tell her story of the pain and unknowing she experienced pre-transition in droning pedal steel and painted lyricism. 

“I feel like I am paying tribute to her,” Long said, thinking of herself pre-transition.  

The track sequencing reads almost as a sentence, which Long explained was purposeful. The opening track, “Dear You,” was written through a songwriting class Long took with their all time favorite artist Lomelda. 

“‘Dear You’ is the thesis, balancing the darkest and most hopeful parts” Long said.

Beyond the songwriting class, Long was inspired musically by Lomelda as well. “They record things so dynamically and you can really hear the room,” beamed Long. Lyrically, she described really diving into Elliot Smith’s discography around the time these tracks were written. “I knew ‘Needle in the Hay’ but then I listened to everything in order and got obsessed!” 

PHOTOS BY LEXI YOB

The following track, “Bad Dream,” is the EP’s standout. It focuses on being present in pain and instrumentally almost moves in waves. Long described the third track, “I Know,” as covering the ability to “recognize that pain in others and while unspoken, that’s not nothing.” The EP closes with a fully instrumental track celebrating newness and ultimately moves us, the listener, forward from the pain. 

“I am able to feel empathy for a person who is no longer me,” Long reflected. “I didn’t share it [the EP] earlier because I didn’t feel enough distance or even feel that everything would be okay.” 

I Woke Up More Beautiful Today’s release into the world is the EP’s final statement. Long hopes that through these songs, she is able to remind anyone experiencing trauma, specifically young trans women, they are not alone, and while pain is real, it is not forever lasting.

There is something so comforting about seeing someone doing well. Sitting on a stoop in a beautiful new city, embraced by those around her, and being able to look back on her past self with a warm heart, Kid Lake is moving forward and extending a hand to help all of those behind her. I Woke Up More Beautiful Today is truly a must listen and can be put in your back pocket as a constant reminder that we are all in this together.