Emma Swift Faces Grief With Poetic Grace In “The Resurrection Game”
- Charles Luberisse
- Aug 13
- 2 min read
Written By: Big C
“In Calistoga, where the redwoods grow…” begins Emma Swift’s haunting title track, The Resurrection Game is a deeply personal reflection on love, loss, and resilience. The Sydney-born, Nashville-based singer-songwriter blends folk intimacy with heartfelt depth, meanwhile channeling the wisdom of the towering redwoods into a meditation on grief’s inevitability. Inspired by her experience at the Hoffman Process retreat, Swift transforms inherited pain into an exquisite song speaking to the shared human truth. Her words balance fragility with fortitude, finding beauty in vulnerability while honoring the shadows that shape us. Swift explains:
This is a song about love and loss, about how there's no escaping grief, it comes for us all, about how the more we love, the more we have to lose. I wrote it after attending an experiential therapy retreat in Northern California called the Hoffman Process. I went to Hoffman because I'd been feeling stuck, and my friend Sarah recommended it to me. It's a bit of a hippy thing to do, but I'm a bit of a hippy at heart.
The track’s lyric video, steeped in nature’s cathedral-like stillness, underscores the song’s central theme—how bending with life’s winds can make us stronger. The lush, baroque flourishes of producer Jordan Lehning’s arrangements amplify Swift’s evocative voice. "The Resurrection Game" enlists top-tier collaborators including Spencer Cullum, Juan Solorzano, Eli Beaird, and Dom Billet. Out September 12 via Tiny Ghost Records, the album arrives in multiple premium formats, each as thoughtfully crafted as the music itself. Let us know your thoughts on the lyrical video below and connect with Emma Swift today on BANDCAMP, FACEBOOK, INSTAGRAM, SUBSTACK, and YOUTUBE.
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