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They say to forgive is divine — a lesson singer-songwriter Elissa Mielke is sharing with us on excellent new single “Don’t Have To Hate You.”

Infused with country elements like twangy pedal steel and a steady acoustic guitar, as well as Mielke’s She & Him-style vocals, the song is a deceptively soothing track about the power of forgiving yourself. 

Mielke waves goodbye to a bad relationship, but instead of forgiving the lover who wronged her, she chooses to grant that forgiveness to herself. 

“You were so hungry for love and so angry about it // I was so starved for control, think that’s why I allowed it,” she explains, before delivering the kicker: “Forgiveness is a gift when it’s for me, not you.”

That forgiveness also allows the artist to come to the realization that she no longer has to waste any time or energy on this person anymore. In other words, “I don’t have to hate you anymore.”

Her bluntly confessional, yet still delicate, songwriting evokes fellow Canadian Joni Mitchell. Mielke draws the listener closer in her lyrics, creating moments that feel like a friend imparting wisdom they’ve picked up along the way. 

For Mielke, that’s just “part of being an artist and a creative person,” as she told Our Culture magazine. 

“I mean, with music, I always feel like I belong in a song, or when I’m making music with other people. That’s just been a thing that feels like it’s mine,” she explained. “And in some moments where I feel off or vulnerable or there’s something my subconscious is trying to sort out and it can’t, then I go to a studio or I go to a little piano room and I just play.”

We can’t wait to hear more from this dazzling singer-songwriter! 

Listen to "Don't Have To Hate You" below: