Save this article to read it later.
Find this story in your accountsSaved for Latersection.
Depression and anxiety are mercenarily efficient conditions.
Comfort is a matter of monastic poise, militant daily routines, and therapy.
Holding fast to all three can be hard to manage.
Depression is a landlord that wants to keep you renting.
It gets you stuck on stasis, fearful of movement and evolution.
Texas singer-songwriter Khalid Robinson tangles with the beast on his sophomore albumFree Spirit.
Its a stunning left turn.
But there was more to Khalid thanAmerican Teensuggested.
In interviews, he grappled with mental-health woes like stress, panic attacks, depression, and social anxiety.
Free Spiritis a battle between bad feelings and good intentions.
The love songs are weary.
The good cheer comes and goes.Free Spiritis the fame sucks album.
Cataloging and unpacking what bothers Khalid is his path to freedom.
Alive, Self, and Heaven examine the scary thoughts that arise in a moment of self-doubt.
Does my raw emotion make me less of a man?
Told everyone I turned my phone off / Didnt ask for help and now Im lost.
Heaven, make me an offer / Lord, theres nothing left for me out here.
Its tough stuff to hear coming from a singer whos only just turned 21.
These qualities keepFree Spiritfrom caving to pessimism.
The music is slick and summery in spite of its message.
Talk gets its exuberant bounce from Khalids lilting hook and Disclosures pillowy trap beat.
The dejected mood of Hundred is offset by peppy New Wave production.
AsFree Spiritunfolds, its title feels like less of a proclamation than a mission statement.
This guys headed as far as the open road can take him.
