Seventeen-year-old Erik Hernandez has made a drastic move. Rather than coasting on the early momentum of his musical alias Saint Capella, the young artist born on June 10, 2009, decided to take a match to his own history. By permanently scrubbing recent projects like ‘THE ABSENCE OF COLOR’ and ‘IF THIS IS HEAVEN, SEND ME TO HELL’ from the internet, alongside a string of singles, Hernandez has executed a brutal but necessary creative reset.
This digital purge paved the way for his newly released redemption project, ‘IN THE QUIET, UNDER THE STORM’. Stepping away from the safety of fictional narratives, Hernandez confronts his reality head-on. It is a staggering confession album that tackles deeply personal traumas, spanning emotional and physical abuse from his Father, sexual assault, toxic relationships, drug addiction, and the love of his Mother who protected him through it all.
As the artist himself notes, "I made the huge decision to completely wipe and delete most of my past discography to make room for a raw, honest new direction." For fans wanting to digest the full weight of these themes, Hernandez has made the complete lyrical catalogue available on Genius.
Sonically, the new record pivots towards the intricate, melancholy atmospheres of 1990s alternative rock. You can hear the dark, paranoid detailing of Radiohead's ‘OK Computer’ bleeding into ‘LAST MEMORY’, while ‘GRANTED’ bathes in the warmer, enveloping tones of In Rainbows. Hernandez fully unleashes his vocals on ‘LEAVE ME BEHIND’, channelling the sheer emotional gravity of Jeff Buckley's Grace. Meanwhile, tracks like ‘COMPULSION’ and ‘TWISTED MEMORIES’ capture the heavy, unvarnished energy found across ‘The Bends’.
The album's uncompromising authenticity extends to its visual presentation. Rejecting the current wave of artificial intelligence, the striking cover was crafted entirely through real photography and manual Photoshop editing. Depicting Hernandez in a suit amidst a burning forest, clutching a flaming bouquet, the image perfectly visualises his current ethos: "burning away my past, dropping fake appearances, and keeping things real."
Dive into the unfiltered reality of ‘IN THE QUIET, UNDER THE STORM’, out now. You can stream the full album directly on Spotify and Apple Music. To keep up with this bold new era, follow Saint Capella on Instagram and TikTok, or visit his official website.
