Calgary-based singer songwriter, Alexa Borden, shares a story of heartbreaking proportions in her latest single “Not Like That”. Inspired by conversations with a former acquaintance who feigned a sincere apology for past actions, it’s a song that channels all of the hurt, harassment, and lies that she was forced to wade through.
It’s a very tender song that feels fragile, but beneath the surface is a strength that comes with a newfound recognition that this was never a relationship worth saving. Borden draws herself a line in the sand, a new boundary that doesn’t want to cross again. “I wanna talk about god, but not like that / I want to talk about the world with you, but not like that”.
This was a boundary that she started enforcing during the first big swing of the pandemic back in May 2020. What started as “entertaining and ridiculous discussions” transformed into forced conversations about conspiracy theories, cults, spirituality, and vaccines driven by a manic paranoia. Within a month, the lines of abuse and sexual harassment came to the forefront as she found herself forced to disengage.
You can feel the frustration in the song, but also a newfound sense of lightness now that Borden has figured out something specific about the quality of conversation she hopes to have with people about challenging topics. “Some of my favourite memories have been exploring the possibilities of life in space with my parents while camping or speculating the afterlife with my best friend” she says, “But when suspicious ideas become concrete foundations that harbour fear, hate, or division… that’s when it crosses the line from inquisitive to destructive.”
“Not Like That” is available now on major streaming platforms like Spotify and Apple Music and can be found on the Alchemical Records Multigenre Mixture playlist on Spotify.
Charlie Maybee is a dancer, musician, educator, and writer based in Charleston, South Carolina who currently teaches with the Dance Program at the College of Charleston. His primary work as an artist is with his performing collective, Polymath Performance Project, through which he makes interdisciplinary performance art that centers tap dance as the primary medium of expression and research. He also currently plays rhythm guitar for the Charleston-based punk band, Anergy, and releases music as a solo artist under the name Nox Eterna.
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