photo by Maksym VarenykElla Collier is constructing full-blown emotional ecosystems where lust, ego, spirituality, and chaos all fight for centre stage. Her latest track, “SLEEPING WITH KARMA,” is the sonic equivalent of locking eyes with danger and leaning in anyway. Set against an icy, hypnotic drill beat, the song conjures the dark feminine in all her power: seductive, flirty, a little toxic, and fully in control—until she’s not. It’s a high-stakes flex with a soft underbelly, a track that teeters on the edge of pleasure and implosion.
With “SLEEPING WITH KARMA” introducing her debut album “DANGEROUS,” Ella invites listeners into a world where ego plays dress-up, emotional armour masquerades as confidence, and every glittering chorus hides a deeper ache. It’s magnetic, theatrical, and personal—as if she’s writing from the storm’s centre and handing you a mirror.
In this interview, Ella breaks down the dualities that fuel her music: masculine and feminine energy, power and surrender, divine connection and self-destruction. We talk about the track’s cinematic visuals, the collaborative alchemy behind her creative process, and why leaning into emotional chaos might just be the most honest thing an artist can do. Whether you’re here for the drama, the depth, or both, step into the garden. Just know she’s already eaten the fruit.
“SLEEPING WITH KARMA” feels like a dance between power and surrender. What inspired you to dive into that emotional limbo with such intensity?
What an attuned interpretation! I feel relieved that you understood the dichotomy and depth sewn into my music, because my brain constantly feels like it’s speaking from two sides; the rational and the “delusional,” and putting that into words can feel like crushing a big idea into 3 minutes.
I think what always inspires me to dive into that emotional limbo is the fact that I truly experience that dichotomy on not only a human level, but on a spiritual and emotional level, on a day-to-day basis. If you were to ask anyone close to me, or anyone who’s interacted with me for that matter, they would say I’m intense. Where do I put all of these intense emotions, especially in a relationship dynamic? How do I be strong in my masculine energy, which I naturally turn to, especially in a work context, while also balancing & allowing softness and vulnerability to inform and potentially guide my romantic connections? Do I choose the chase and the hard dynamic because I will feel accomplished when I “solve it”? Or does that feel safe to me because I know I will never be challenged to be vulnerable? That’s still something I’m figuring out.
photo by Maksym VarenykYou mentioned this is your first time working over a drill beat. What drew you to that sound, and how did it shape the version of yourself we hear on this track?
Yes! I LOVE that we incorporated elements of drill into this song—Shout-out to Sam Vendig, who produced this track and the others on my project. I’m grateful for a collaboration that is full of the freedom to experiment. I feel like that’s how we have created my sound.
Sometimes at the start of creating the song, we don’t know what it’s gonna be, what we’re gonna say, or where it’s gonna go, but the most freeing and scary feeling (dichotomy shows her face again) is that surrender to the process. Once we make that decision, it leaves space for flow to come in and help us create. This was one of those songs.
There’s this magical symbiosis that happens in a collaboration, especially when you have been working together for a while, that creates this space to push each other to try new things and experiment. When Sam pulled out this drill beat, I knew exactly where to go. In all of my music, the sound design is just as important to me as the lyrics, melody, subject, and structure. The goal for each song is to capture a feeling, no matter how fleeting.
In “SLEEPING WITH KARMA”, we are building a world of ferocity because in the lyric, there is this high-stakes energy driving the narrative of the song, all stemming from karmic, anxious, and/or toxic attachments. I like to say this song brings out the dawg in me, and this production truly awoke that narrator inside of me to take the wheel in this song.
This song feels like a ritual, dark, magnetic, and a little dangerous. When writing it, were you thinking more of personal experiences, imagined scenarios, or symbolic storytelling?
Funny you say dangerous, because that’s the name of the album SLEEPING WITH KARMA is introducing. The whole purpose is to explore the ego and how it seeps into interpersonal relationships, mindset, motivations, and ultimately, what character you show up as in the world, because with the ego, you’re always playing a character. The ego has been my friend and foe all at the same time.
I always pull from my most personal experiences when writing my music. I’ve even had my mom apprehensive about how autobiographical my songs are. I can’t help it. I genuinely cope with my deeply sensitive human experience through song form. I find it to be a gift that I can take the most painful, euphoric experiences in my life and create a world around them for others to take as their own.
I also play with many elements of symbolism in my songwriting, especially because my music is tethered to spiritual themes under the guise of Pop music. Sometimes I even hide behind these hard lyrics, because I’m too afraid to say I’m scared of intimacy… but that’s for another song.
“SLEEPING WITH KARMA” plays with contradiction—the divine and the chaotic, the flirtation and the fallout. Do you think duality is something that defines you as an artist?
Yes, 100%. If you could boil my whole artistry down to one word, it’d be duality.
I make easily catchy pop music, but the lyrics always have a deeper meaning, diving into the spiritual condition, mental health struggles, my sobriety, toxic relationship dynamics, etc. There’s always more than what meets the eye. I feel like the through line in my art is undeniably this push and pull between feeling confident and fearing destruction.
SLEEPING WITH KARMA is the ultimate manifestation of that. I’m holding my ground, seemingly powerful, when I’m truly just grasping onto any sense of control in the power dynamic of this relationship. Many people would call this the situation ship song. We have to act like we don’t care to be loved. I’m not very good at that.
I can hit a cocky verse over a drill beat and then hit the pre-chorus and beg for this man to SEE ME, SEE ME DEEPER, PLEASE (“show me you see me like glass over water”). To me, everything is complex, can take multiple forms, and can be empowering and excruciating at the same time. That has been my experience in most parts of my life. I can’t tell if it’s because I’m wired to not only feel things deeply, but also to examine the deepest into every crux of this experience. It feels like my responsibility as an artist, but also just part of my DNA.
Let’s talk about the visual side. Can you give us a hint at the kind of world the music video builds around this song? What part of the story does it amplify or reveal?
This is one of my favourite videos I have ever done. I also edit all of my music videos, which is an insurmountable amount of work, but I genuinely love the creative control.
In the SLEEPING WITH KARMA music video (dropping 6/20), on the surface it can seem like a high production, fast paced, sensual video; I’m toying with arm candy, my hair is sleek and I look tough, but throughout the video you see me slowly starting to unravel in this inner struggle I have with the power dynamic I’m highlighting in this relationship. This nods to duality again; I can look hot and also question my worth. This is my true struggle, and I know many people can relate to this concept.
Photo by Riles MartinezYou worked with a team of writers and producers on this one. How did the collaboration influence the final result, and how do you protect your creative fingerprint in the mix?
I touched on the power of collaboration in one of the previous questions, but there can be a genuine magic that happens in collaboration. I feel like that’s what all of us are chasing as songwriters in rooms, because that magic when we get it can’t be put into words, but it can be put into the song that was written that day ;)
Sam and I were in Nashville doing a bunch of writing sessions, and this particular day we were excited because we were in with our good friends Nicole Beaubien and Jarrod Gipson. We already had a personal relationship with them, which is the best because there’s already this trust that’s been developed. You need to have trust to create the most authentic song, and honestly, we started the session talking about our deepest dreams and goals for a couple of hours. There’s a level of disarmament that happens when people are vulnerable like that; it’s another way we open the door for flow to rush in.
We just wanted to make a song, no expectations, and it was off to the races. In a writing room, I am very take charge (imagine that), so I was already writing ideas on the document the second Sam started experimenting with the beat. I wouldn’t have been able to have this song fully realised without the genius that is these amazing people. I tend to go down the rabbit hole (pun intended) in over-complicated psychoanalysis in my initial lyric writing, so it’s good to have other people to bring me back to the intentional craft & simplicity of pop music. We want to make it digestible while also challenging (another paradox). That’s where I find my balance in creating true pop songs while also maintaining my authenticity in my storytelling.
What do you hope listeners carry with them after spending three minutes in this particular version of your universe?
You know, I hope listeners carry whatever comes to them when they hear this. I have my own interpretations and inspirations for this song, but at the end of the day, the beauty of art is that it can be refocused through the lens of someone else’s world. I think if anything, I do hope that the listener feels validated if they’re struggling with a power dynamic, and to remember it’s only a moment in time. SLEEPING WITH KARMA is a warning, but it’s also an unavoidable pitfall of chasing the highlights in someone’s persona.
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