Life could feel so heavy right now—but LA-based artist Irene Diaz is here to remind you she’ll do “Anything For You.” The queer independent Chicana singer-songwriter, known for her timeless-sounding romantic offerings since 2013, is going one step further to connect with her loyal fans’ ears.
While speaking with Diaz over Zoom, I recognized that she’s really down to do anything she can to heal her listeners through her music—including grounding fans not only with her voice but with multiple sonic intentions.
As a freelance writer, it’s difficult to focus on entertainment when there are so many tragic happenings in the world. But when your writing reflects an artist’s empathy in the world’s political climate, it becomes fuel to express ourselves as the creative thinkers we are.
In Diaz’s song “Anything For You,” she expresses feeling the world’s chaos, but still puts the love for your neighbor first. She passionately sings, “This world’s crazy / But I’m more crazy for you / Oh ’cause I would do anything / Oh anything / Anything for you,” creating a sonically safe space for her listeners to feel less alone. “We need to realize we are beautiful. We are meant to live as humans, and we should not be living in fear,” she told CREMA. “People have always been creating songs for change. And we need to really take that in. I think about the song, ‘Anything For You.’ [I sing] I would do anything for you. This world’s crazy, but I’m more crazy for you. The fact that people are stepping in for other people, and they’re getting killed. That’s revolutionary.”
We’ve seen this recently when nurse Alex Pretti stepped in to protect a woman and was killed by federal agents last week. Tying her lyrics to the world’s reality right now gave me goosebumps—and it also showed the importance of an artist’s empathy in today’s current state.
Irene Diaz isn’t afraid to stick to her priorities and morals. Even on this chat, though I haven’t met in real life, it felt like I could talk to her about what’s going on. It was like the elephant in the room that I felt had to be discussed before even getting into other questions.
But that’s why Diaz is so loved by her community. She levels with you; she understands.
And just like she stands up and sings for her community, she also stands for herself. As an independent singer, she knows the industry’s ups and downs and has learned to keep her voice as authentic as possible.
Before returning to her independent artist career, she dabbled in pop music by collaborating with other artists on her album Lovers & Friends (2022). She also toured with Mexican pop star Carla Morrison, getting a taste of the indie pop world. But it just didn’t work out for her. “I really feel like I thrive more being very independent,” she said. “I feel like when I was with a label, it was more so like, ‘Oh, what do they want? What does the world want from me?’ And now I’m at a point where I’m independent—it works better for me mentally and emotionally.”
Putting in the work for her mental health oozes in her music. While listening to her recent tracks like the oldies-sounding romantic ballad “The Fool” and the aforementioned R&B and soulful song “Anything For You,” you find yourself encouraged to find your soft era—to still feel love in all the chaos.
Another way Irene Diaz helps heal her listeners is through her “Piano Diaries Meditation” series on YouTube. “[The Piano Diaries] helps me just move through whatever I’m going through, if I’m working or if I’m just needing to just relax,” she said. “These are all just tools. The real healing really comes from yourself, really comes from me, actually just taking a moment to sit down and be there and really feel what I’m feeling.”
Throughout our chat, she mentions the importance of calming your nervous system through breathing techniques, finding and connecting with community, and taking care of our mental health in an era when we see everything online.
But even with everything going on, she knows that, as an artist, she has to continue offering her healing gifts to her fanbase.
When asked what’s next in her career, she says she’s not changing her love songs—only making them more intentional to connect with the body. “Love songs. Definitely. I think love songs are so powerful,” she said. “Something else that I’m trying to do is record at a certain frequency, 432 Hz. So I’m tuning the music to be more in tune with our bodies and a little bit different. But I think just I really want to offer something soothing to people. And yeah, just give my gift and inspire others to give their gifts to each other.” For context: 432 hertz music is known to calm the body; many use it for meditation purposes.
After speaking with Irene Diaz via Zoom, I reconnected with my purpose in writing entertainment. It’s to highlight enlightening projects like hers that show how kindhearted humans are and how love is the most important emotion we can feel. She wants to help us heal.
To listen to her recent music on physical format, Diaz has a new limited-edition 7-inch vinyl featuring the latest singles “Anything for You” and “The Fool,” on sale now.
