When the sky turns orange and the air tastes like ash, something shifts in your awareness. For Kristy Chmura, that shift became a song and a re-awakening.

Her re-worked version of “Wake Up” doesn’t just reflect concern for the planet. It grieves for it. It listens to the land and it responds in melody.

Originally released in 2018, “Wake Up” was a quietly powerful track from Chmura’s debut album called “Stained…Glass Heart”. Now, it is the third single from her upcoming album “Inner Solstice”, and was released on Earth Day to honor our beautiful planet.

But in this new version, re-built with the help of musical collaborators Damien Musto, Christian Eigner, and Niko Stoessl, the song takes on a much wider horizon. It’s still meditative and restrained but the stakes feel higher now. The ground beneath it has shifted in the world we live in. And so has the sound.

Listen here:

This new version of “Wake Up” unfolds like a slow exhale. The arrangement blooms gradually, layering keys, synth textures and rhythmic heartbeat pulses behind Chmura’s unmistakable voice. She doesn’t have to shout her message because her voice carries weight simply by how gently it insists.

The lyrics of the song are deceptively simple. They are less about specifics and more about reflection, awareness and the call inwards before we act outward.

But when paired with the video, a seamless collage of environmental imagery, stark statistics and soft-lit shots of Kristy herself, the message becomes really clear: this isn’t just a song about the Earth. It’s a song for the Earth. And for us, the ones sleepwalking through its slow unraveling.

The music video frames Kristy as of many in a thread of tapestry. She stands against a backdrop of projected images – forests in flames, wildlife fleeing, landscapes stripped bare. There is something haunting about watching her sing amidst these visuals, like a ghost from the future trying to reach us now.

As a longtime volunteer with her local Shade Tree Commission, Kristy’s concern for forests is daily, tangible work. She is the kind of artist who will research carbon storage data and then translate that into a lyric. Or quietly plant a tree and then write a verse.

What stands out most about “Wake Up” is that while the imagery is heavy, the song breathes. There is a delicate beauty in it and, in that beauty, there is still hope.

The seed for “Wake Up” was planted a while ago, during a time when my connection to nature deepened, and my concern for the environment grew stronger. I released my original version of “Wake Up” that I produced along with my longtime creative partner Damien Musto back in 2018 on my debut solo album, “Stained…Glass Heart”.

I’ve always felt a deep connection to nature, a sense of belonging that resonates in my soul especially whenever I’m surrounded by trees and I was becoming increasingly worried and distressed by what I would see all over the media: the destruction and attacks on our environment, and how greed and thoughtlessness towards the planet hurts us all.

All these things overwhelmed me – the images of deforestation, the oil spills, the sheer disregard for our planet – to a point that ignited the inner activist in me. It wasn’t just about the planet; it was a personal ache, a sense of loss. I had to do something, I couldn’t stand by any longer, so I used what I have: my voice.”

And with this new version of “Wake Up”, Kristy Chmura joins the lineage of artists who understand that music can help to influence and reshape the world. It can be a powerful way to ask the deeper questions and for us to pay attention and stay awake.

About Kristy Chmura

Kristy began her musical journey in her childhood church choir where she also discovered her lifelong connection to the harp. Although she had to wait until age thirteen to begin lessons, her passion never faded and this eventually lead her to earn a degree in Music Performance from The College of New Jersey and to pursue graduate studies at Montclair State University.

While studying, she co-founded an indie trio blending harp, cello, drums, and vocal harmonies. The band thrived for over a decade, performing across the NJ/NY scene and releasing original music and videos.

After the group’s run, she launched her solo career with longtime creative partner Damien Musto, releasing her debut album “Stained…Glass Heart” in 2018 and EP “Where The Light Gets In” in 2022.

It was in 2021 that she and Musto began collaborating with Depeche Mode drummer Christian Eigner and producer Niko Stoessl. The result is “Inner Solstice“, a forthcoming album that marks a bold new era of sound.

Its first singles, “Eye Of The Storm” and “Into The Flames,” were released in 2024 and 2025, with a re-imagined version of her song “Wake Up” now released.

Keep up to date with everything Kristy Chmura on her Website

Stream music on Spotify and Apple Music