When her world was falling apart, Kimaya Diggs buckled down on putting together new music.
Staggering losses color the Easthampton musician’s new record Quincy, which arrived last week (March 9). There’s the deaths of her mother and a dear friend; the potential loss of years, following Diggs’ autoimmune diagnosis that could mean a shorter lifespan; and the temporary loss of her voice, thanks to an injury that left her unable to speak for more than 20 minutes a day, let alone sing. In many ways, it feels like the only thing Diggs didn’t lose is hope.
Refusing to scrap her in-progress LP, Diggs recorded new material at her own speed in her spouse’s studio. Corrective surgery and 150 speech therapy sessions soothed her vocal injury. “Long, howling solos” from her dog Quincy — the album’s namesake — nudged her out of bed to create on sluggish mornings.
Then in a painful twist, Quincy advanced to the next life, too.
But the album’s upbeat songs still vibrate with passionate retropop. The cover art still bursts with an exuberant shade of pink. And despite all odds, Quincy is still Diggs’ source of levity.
“Making this album definitely involved a lot of grief, but when it came to my voice, it was nothing but pure joy,” she tells Vanyaland, reflecting on life after her vocal injury. “It was so incredibly exciting to write the songs of my dreams and then actually be able to sing them. I felt very strongly about not chasing perfection when it came to vocal takes — I really wanted to capture what my voice can do naturally, and I’m happy with how that turned out.”
“I’ll go ahead / That’s what I want you to see,” she sings on album opener “I’ll follow,” beginning an album-long ode to the past and present forces that propel her forward, from Quincy to her musical peers in Western Massachusetts.
“I didn’t work on the album at all for at least three months after my mom died, and when we finally went back into the studio, I was suffering from severe grief-induced memory loss, which made it really hard to be a good collaborator,” Diggs notes. “I’m really grateful to my partner and co-producer Jacob [Rosazza], who saw the importance of doing creative work even while he himself was grieving and receiving a lot less support than I was — all while supporting me.”
It’s a deep understanding of Diggs’ late mother, though, that thrusts the album over the finish line. Much like the standout ballad “Letting go” — which Diggs penned for her mom when she was still alive — Quincy is an exercise in releasing emotion while simultaneously holding onto inspiration for dear life.
“I realized just how deeply committed she had been to creativity, which gave me the sense of purpose I needed to push through and finish the album,” Diggs concludes. “I’m so glad I was able to finish it because it’s proof that I can create something beautiful even when everything’s falling apart.”
Give Quincy a spin below