Producer, songwriter, and singer, RYAN Playground, is back with a new song. “Almost Died” is described as a delicate reflection on the intensities that come with relationships. Speaking on the song RYAN explains, “‘Almost Died’ is about the vulnerability that comes with bonding over shared issues and the intense connections that can result.”

Genevieve Ryan Martel (aka RYAN Playground) was raised by two classical musicians in Montreal. At age 5, she received her first drum kit and by 11, she was creating her own compositions with her guitar and drums. By the time she was a teenager, Genevieve was experimenting with FL studio and electronic music.

RYAN Playground is a project born out of playtime – the meeting of a seasoned musician in touch with the wide-eyed exuberance and angsty emotions that come with being a teenager. In her music, RYAN harkens back the days when she was growing up in the suburbs listening to pop punk.

“Every time I make a song I’m just throwing out emotions,” she explains. “It’s always very personal. I’ve come to realize that there are always two extremes. I consider myself in a gray zone, but a very nice gray zone. I like trying to appreciate all the nuances in life and accept them. Make the best out of it…I have my dark days like everybody else. But at the end of it all I’m very optimistic. I’m a dreamer!”

RYAN has always lived in her own gray zone – around the same time she picked up music, she also asked for her first skateboard and was playing sports with the boys. Not only can she hang, but she kicks ass. Very young, she wanted to make a point that she could be as good and strong as boys are.

“I have experienced different kinds of extremes and I finally found my own balance,” she says pragmatically. “In the end we all find our own balance and pace. It’s also about not believing in categories. I feel like a lot of people feel reassured when things are classified in different ‘categories.’ They kind of feel like boundaries to me. I don’t really believe that having categories and creating new ones is fundamentally helpful, we’re all somewhere in between this and that.”