Originally Published on March 20th, 2026

I go through phases. Some days, I’m angry. I hold my feelings in and I drag my feet through my day, through my time, through the world. I may be confrontational; just waiting for anybody to say something sideways. So I might scream at the internet and the faceless profiles I choose to enact my hollow revenge.

Some days, I’m sad or scared. I live in a world that I understand can be gone in just another moment. It used to be “in order for our country to fall into an apocalyptic demise, this, this, this, and this would have to happen.” Today, this has happened, that has happened, and now, we’re all just waiting restlessly.

I talk about things with my wife. I educate myself by searching for reputable news outlets I trust. I even try to write about it. I cringe at the thought of being hopeful because I don’t want that hope to be ripped away from me, so my writing is bleak. Dark. Depressed.

But hope is like water. Without it, we are parched. It quenches a thirst. It brings energy. Life. Change. I secretly long for a beacon. A beacon of light. A beacon of resistance. Today, that longing; that call was answered by the goddess, Lucy.

Who is Jenn DeSantis?

That was my question in the fall of 2024. I’d just launched Fifteen Minutes of Fame and I was trying to find new ways to be relevant and to expand my reach of exposure for independent artists. I started doing Blind Reactions. I posted on Threads and, to my surprise, I got quite a few submissions. One name stood out. Daniel Grigson of Necco Records, and the creator of CAN! had told me about this phenomenal musician, Jenn DeSantis. Sure enough, I saw the submission for her music video and a song called Unrequited. So, I hit play on my first Jenn DeSantis song.

To this point, I hadn’t really felt comfortable on camera. I didn’t know how to introduce videos. I didn’t know whether to be animated or conservative. I wanted the content to drive viewership; not for my platform but for the artists. Representing each artist made me nervous because I wanted to do right by them. This Blind Reaction was the moment I figured out how to do film them because it was the first one I got so swept up in the music that I forgot about all of my anxieties about composing myself on camera. I was so taken off guard by how sensational the music was, I became myself. I also became a fan of Jenn’s music.

I would later feature Jenn in an article for her cover of Running Up That Hill and again for her song, Genius Daydream. I fought to be first in line for every release. I bought her merch, I bought her music on Bandcamp. I started doing the typical things a fan does when they discover a new artist they cherish.

72. Single Review of Running Up That Hill by Jenn DeSantis

The beautiful thing about being involved in the indie community is that, when you begin to idolize a musician, and you muster up the courage to reach out to them, they often reach back.

So was the case with Jenn. We became social media pals. I learned that she is a loving and caring person who cherishes her wife and is passionate about her art. She is kind, generous, and has an incredible spirit. She is humble and grateful, and she goes out of her way for people she cares about.

She’s also a warrior. She proudly represents the LGBTQ community through her words, her actions, and her music. She can often be seen playing PRIDE festivals and events. She is unafraid when representing her community publicly and she is so proud of her wife.

Lucy

Lucy releases today, March 20th, 2026. It is the first release by Jenn DeSantis this year. It runs a little over 4 and a half minutes long. It features piano, synths, strings, guitar, and drums to accompany DeSantis’ leading and backing vocals. It is written, performed, and produced independently by Jenn DeSantis.

“ A lot of what has inspired me is the political and social climate that we’re all living in. There’s a lot of truth being revealed in the world that can feel extremely disturbing and deeply overwhelming.. For me, music is a way to process things. That’s how I uplift others. That’s how I make others, and myself, not feel so alone and bring light into places that feel heavy.” ~ Jenn DeSantis, Instagram

Lucy opens with a gentle, quiet introduction. The piano gracefully walks down on the opening progression to simple percussion and an accompanying cello. DeSantis’ vocals come in shortly after and they flow over the progression with ease.

As she enters into the first bridge, anticipation builds with the bass filling in the sound space, before hitting the chorus: “There’s a light that shines on you tonight. Hold it. There’s a light inside of you. Take it. There’s a light inside of you. Don’t fight it. You break the darkness.”

Lucy builds and sweeps listeners away as it evolves from sweet, soft, quiet to brave, powerful, and beautiful.

Lyrically, DeSantis references the coldness of the climate that draws her focus, she takes aim at the ones she sees causing the most division, and more importantly she references “Lucy” the supernal energy she reaches towards to persevere the adversity we all face.

“Lucy, to me, is a feminine collective light force or beacon. It’s actually how I see God. I don’t see God as a gender. I see God as this feminine energy and I wanted to bring that into the song.” ~ DeSantis, via Instagram

The transition into describing “Lucy” to the listener is exactly how Jenn describes it. “Going from darkness, to light.” Lucy is a mystic. Hopeful. Energy. With each passing description, the music even sounds more luminous. The progression has moved from descending to ascending and is bright and powerful. The message from bleak and uncertain to power and hope.

I am a person who struggles with faith. I don’t believe in god. My bedrock is in the people who encompass this planet. Often, I’m let down. But not today. Today, I find hope in Jenn DeSantis’ wonderful song. I find hope in Lucy.

It’s a good feeling.

Go press play.

Purchase Lucy on Bandcamp