Michelle Forziati embraces an emotional path forward with ‘Stranger’
Massachusetts musician and actress releases a powerful
alt-pop and R&B single on Friday, April 26
OUT NOW: Listen to ‘Stranger’ via Bandcamp
Forziati appeared in the 2017 film ‘Stronger’ with Jake Gyllenhaal
BOSTON, Mass. [April 26, 2024] -- Michelle Forziati is ready for her close-up. But in order to get to this point, the Massachusetts pop singer and artist had to come to terms with where she was in life, and how it was not only affecting her personally, but also impacting those closest to her.
This confessional storyline unfolds one hypnotic beat and emotional lyric at a time in “Stranger,” Forziati’s powerful new alt-pop and R&B single set for release on Friday. April 26. “Stranger” continues a unique trajectory for the multihyphenate, a former ballroom dance instructor who also played the role of Jill Hurley in the 2017 biographical drama film Stronger, about Jeff Bauman’s recovery, played by Jake Gyllenhaal, in the aftermath of the Boston Marathon bombing.
Coincidentally, Forziati’s role of Hurley centered around a character whose strength and determination helped her family navigate through dark times. In real life, the Medford native is drawing from her own strength and sense of self to create the type of music she not only wants to create, but act as a portal towards self-expression. And it all starts from within, as she steps into a new starring role.
“‘Stranger’ is about losing myself but then realizing I'm coming back to my core,” Forziati says. “And it’s about having distractions in life that make you lose sight of those core beliefs. This song for me is about recognizing how I stepped away from being a spiritual person; my pain was so great that I blamed God for all my heartaches. But then I realized the most important thing in life is to have faith and hope, so I'm apologizing for running and hiding from my pain. In our pain is where we find our redemption. It's about me knowing that when the good times are over who would actually be there for me.”
Forziati’s first new music of 2024, “Stranger” follows a pair of intriguing debut singles she released last year. February’s “Echo To Me” is a stirring piano-led ballad about her uncle who passed away; while October’s “Familiar Face” is a frantic, heavy pop-R&B banger about the anger she feels after not recognizing who she’s become. Paired with this new track, a theme of self-expression and self-exploration emerge, one where Forziati, inspired by the writings and teachings of music legend Victor Wooten, treats music as a conversation – and she knows it’s a two-way street in conveying and understanding emotion, both given and received.
“In the arts, I just want to be honest,” Forziati admits. “I want to be who I am. I'm trying to be honest and hopefully that allows other people to feel like it's okay to be human, you know? We live in a world where everyone wants perfection. We have these filters. But authenticity and these imperfections in life are so incredibly beautiful.”
The origins of “Stranger” were formed quite like most of Forziati’s compositions: Sitting on the floor pouring her heart out on the lyric sheet, drawing inspiration from nature as well as a balance of her professional and family life, and pairing her words with beats. She took the bones of “Stranger” to record with Monty Dale at Graybeard Recording Studio in Framingham, who mixed and mastered the track, and she credits him for pushing her beyond her limits to deliver the song to where it is today. Frequent collaborator Dylan Gagnon added the guitar, and all the pieces came together to create a forceful and layered song that opens a portal to Forziati’s soul – showing a person with a pure joie de vivre, but one also rooted in reality to understand the hardships we all face.
“All of the songs that I have coming out, or have had come out, are about healing,” Forziati says. “It's allowing me to heal. I think this statement that I'm creating or trying to create is that it's okay to feel emotions. It's okay to have times when you're disappointed in yourself, it's okay to realize ‘Oh my gosh, I made a mistake’, it's okay to think ‘OMG I miss somebody’. We're capable of all of these emotions which means we're meant to feel them. If we weren't meant to feel sadness, grief, relief and redemption we wouldn't have the capacity to feel them.”
Forziati doesn’t want to change the world, she just wants to change herself as she continues to grow and evolve. And she also wishes to maybe give the listener the hope that they can change as well. It’s an attitude she’s carried with her no matter the field of arts she’s pursuing.
“With my music, I just want people to know that it's okay to feel,” Forziati concludes. “It's okay to look in the mirror and be like ‘OMG who are you?’ It's okay to think to yourself ‘I forgot who I am’ and so on… but that's okay – it's a part of life. It's a part of living, it's a part of growing up. I think my statement through my music is that it's okay to be a human. It's okay to feel, it's okay to regret, it's okay to move forward through the pain.”
And by doing so, we lose all sense of being a “Stranger” to those around us.
‘Stranger’ single credits:
Music and lyrics by Michelle Forziati
Mixed, and mastered by Monty Dale at Graybeard Recording Studio in Framingham, MA
Guitar by Dylan Gagnon
‘Stranger’ single artwork:
Michelle Forziati short bio:
Michelle Forziati is a singer, musician, actress, and dancer from Massachusetts. A former ballroom dance instructor, she played the role of Jilly Hurley in the 2017 biographical drama film Stronger, about Jeff Bauman’s recovery, played by Jake Gyllenhaal, in the aftermath of the Boston Marathon bombing. In 2023, she tapped into a longtime passion by venturing into music with two alt-pop and R&B singles in “Echo To Me” and “Familiar Face.” Forziati is set to release new single “Stranger,” recorded with Monty Dale at Graybeard Recording Studio in Framingham, MA, in April 2024.
SPOTIFY . AMAZON . APPLE . BANDCAMP . INSTAGRAM . FACEBOOK . TWITTER . YOUTUBE . IMDB
