Singer and Producer DaJourney Releases New Song 'Mood Swings'
One of singer/producer DaJourney’s objectives for 2024 is to make “great music with life-changing stories.” Mood Swings, released in late January, gets the ball rolling.
That song delves into the darkness of anxiety and depression, a disorder that according to cincinnatichildrens.org, “shows that more than 95% of people who kill themselves have depression or another diagnosable mental or substance abuse disorder, often in combination with other mental disorders.”
DaJourney, who was born in Jamaica, has lived in Toronto for many years. Seeing people go through the anguish of that illness pushed him to write and record Mood Swings.
“It was inspired by real events, real emotions, and firsthand experiences. As a man, as a leader, as a husband, as a father, a brother, an artist, and as a minister, we can feel reduced in effect, force and value. Our self-consciousness then takes an attenuated role in enforcing our decisions,” he said. “We then tend to deal with what we assume is important, while the bits and pieces pile up against us, it is these small moments that cause multiple collisions and destroy the things we enjoy the most.”
Originally from west Kingston, DaJourney is a committed Christian whose songs are driven by dancehall/reggae beats. While he has recorded a number of songs as an artist, he also collaborates with fellow Jamaican reggae-gospel acts such as Sone G, Chris Da Ambassada and Prince Saj.
Last October, he and Sone G’s song, Sweet Eeh, won Collab of The Year at the Sterling Gospel Music Awards in Kingston. He produced Conquest, an EP by deejay Prince Saj, that was released in December.
With Mood Swings, DaJourney is looking to start conversations aimed at helping people struggling with so-called demons.
“It is particularly important to highlight the difficulties, and not just the breakthrough. It is the imperfect that justifies the problem, and the eagerness to find answers that makes us better people,” he said.