Daily Discovery: Gia Woods Takes the Pressure Off On “Ego”

Los Angeles, where pop songwriter Gia Woods calls home, is a metropolis full of creatives constantly wrestling with artistic impulses, diverse personalities, and personal needs. The rapidly emerging musician, who first hit the industry landscape in 2016, knows all about the nature of these things and hasn’t shied away from delving into the unique value of each through her music.

Taking a bold and self-empowering first step forward with her LGBTQIA+-minded single, “Only a Girl” back then, Woods is now continuing on with an EP titled Cut Season, not letting up on the intensity surrounding topics of self-worth, fulfillment, and introspection. The EP’s newest single “Ego,” addresses self-esteem and self-confidence but now, comes at both from the vantage point Woods’ own experience with interpersonal dysfunction.

“I was going through a breakup from a very toxic relationship and all I could think about were all the reasons why it didn’t work out. One of the things I realized was that a lot of our problems stemmed from ego trips,” Woods says.

“Ego” is a fittingly blunt song. It  directly addresses its titular term with succinct but descriptive phrases that leave no ambiguity about the emotional dynamic shared between Woods and her significant other of the time.

Dancing round all the same old problems
Call ‘em out but we still don’t stop ‘em
Every night find a way to top ‘em
Every night find a way to have ‘em

Running round the room
Insecurity
What I feel for you
Starts to worry me
All the sh-t you do
Show up in my dreams
Get the best of me

The message of the song gets an even bolder boost from its instrumental counterparts, as light but snappy drum machine pulses alternate with thick and layered synthesizer tones, heavy-handed piano, and bass guitar notes on every other beat. When put together with Woods’ smooth but dynamically emphatic and enunciated vocals, “Ego” really becomes a musical embodiment of the contrastive push-and-pull energy that can form between two people. Thankfully, despite the somewhat aggressive sound and narrative of the song, “Ego” mostly serves as a motivator and source of encouragement for those who resonate with Woods’ past feelings and difficulties – both in a relationship and as an individual.

“When you get out of any relationship you see things clearly in hindsight. I was convinced that my relationship was everything to me and I had to ‘fix’ it. Now, looking back, all the signs were there. It was never going to last,” says Woods.

“I want people to know that it’s ok to not be perfect or to have it all figured out in any relationship,” she says. “There is no such thing. And to accept when things aren’t working out or meant to be. It’s okay to walk away from something that isn’t making you feel valued.”