Dutch-Ghanaian newcomer Nana Adjoa found more freedom in songwriting once she dropped out of school, trading her jazz background at the Amsterdam Conservatory for music with a softer, more melodic nature. Her new EP A Tale So Familiar is out in November. Adjoa says it “speaks to the downside of living a long life and growing old, the dark sides of love, and trying to make sense of these things in my relatively young age.” Today she’s sharing its introductory single.

“DOOA” is about getting older, so naturally it’s moody and questioning. But Adjoa faces the tension of aging with a confidence that outweighs fear. The song itself has a breathy air, delicate and graceful. Her lyrics are honest and relatable, tracing the life of her grandmother amidst her own late-twenties discoveries of gray hairs and true love.

Adjoa herself had this to say:

I wrote this song when my grandmother was in her last years. She showed me the downsides of growing old: physical and mental decay and, in her case, great loneliness. This is a problem for a lot of elderly people in the western world. Waiting for the release of death.

Listen to “DOOA” below.

A Tale So Familiar is out 11/7 on Bloomer Records.