"Trauma and Solace" is a personal journey. Making peace with the nature of trauma by accepting that same nature brings moments solace; family, snow, stars and fireflies. Each song guides the listener through a different emotional stage of trauma and healing, with lyrics and sounds unraveling and settling peacefully on the last chord. asia mei continues to masterfully weave a staggering amount of musical elements into a song that sounds both simple and sophisticated. One can spot inklings of Chopin, Phillip Glass, electronic, modern jazz, hip hop, blues, rock and pop yet the music isn't just one style, it is all and none, another individual and personal statement developed by mei. The Journey of "Trauma and Solace": The first song on the album, "wraparound" is written for asia's daughter, Eden. The album starts with an innocent hope for a parent and their young child to find solace through the world's perils in music. "you don't say" discusses people's inability to share their troubles with each other, leaving them isolated and denied of emotional support. The song was inspired by several stories of self-destructive students asia encountered as a teacher, as well as a personal loss many around her experienced, but only shared after learning of her own. "scared and scarred" reflects on adulthood survived by a violent childhood. Based on asia's experience growing up in Israel, and reinforced by the overwhelming stories of hatred and violence, the reflection on such a past can be scarring to many sides of the same conflict. In the song, asia wonders "if there's more to this life/ then the hate in those eyes/ maybe we could be free/ maybe we could just be" "regrets" is a restless modern jazz inspired piece on the effect of looking back on things that can no longer be changed. "fireflies and stars", a melancholy number, makes peace with the turbulent side of nature as it also finds that moment that allows one to move on, such as looking at a magical sight of fireflies and stars. which actually happened to asia. "snow (come down)" brings the journey to an end with a peaceful longing for the first snow to cover the past with a magical fairytale sight. The song and album end on a warm C major chord and arrive at the solace promised by the journey. About Asia Mei: (asia is pronounced ah-sya) in asia's world there are no borders and no boundaries. not geographically, not musically. everything musical asia touches blurs and combines genres and influences. whether it's her singer/songwriter rock music that brings serious classical piano skills and masterful arrangements or an orchestral piece that draws on blues and metal. all is fair game. all is a personal expression. asia was born in russia, grew up in israel and continued to move between boston, new york city and western mass. classically trained as a pianist and choral singer in the rubin conservatory in jerusalem asia made the change to popular music by obtaining a degree in contemporary writing and production from berklee college of music asia's musical career centers around the singer/songwriter journey. with melancholy, introverted, emotional and ernest dark rock. asia released her debut "shards" in 2006, acclaimed single "big apple tree" in 2010 and hailed melancholy album "introverse" in 2011. The deeply personal journey chronicled in the EP "trauma and solace" released on 11.15.15 while performing as a rock musician asia continued to compose, as well as working professionally as an arranger, studio assistant, musical director and educator. after a move to western mass. with husband, musician and scholar andres wilson and the birth of their daughter eden, asia went back to graduate school to obtain her master's in classical composition from umass amherst. the studies sparked an interest in larger scale composition and performances and competition wins were soon to follow. Asia is the 2015 winner of the Ben Steinberg young composer award for Jewish Choral Music.