Natalie Harrison Walks Through the Stages of Grief on Her Debut

Natalie Harrison knows that life doesn’t always go according to plan. But by turning points and forks in the road, she’s learned to turn momentary shifts and setbacks into art.

Last December, Harrison released her debut EP, Finally Forgot Your Number, and R&B recording that came amid various pivots – the end of a relationship and the beginning of a new chapter in Dallas.

Harrison hails from Baton Rouge, Louisiana. She moved to Dallas in 2022 after graduating from Southern University and A&M College – Baton Rouge with a degree in mass communications. Though she planned for a full career in public relations, she always imagined she’d have a future in music.

“I was supposed to go to Atlanta [after college],” Harrison says. “Things didn’t work out, and my mom’s been out here [in Dallas] for seven years. And I already had a going away party at home and stuff and I was like, ‘I’m not going back home, so I’m gonna make it work in Dallas.'”

Moving to Dallas proved to be a game-changer for her, as she began to work on Finally Forgot Your Number and befriended local artists within the scene.

“My time here has been great,” Harrison says. “It started off rocky, because of course, when you’re changing, you have to be uncomfortable. I was very sad when I first came here, because it was not on my terms, and I was embarrassed to go back home to Baton Rouge because I had all these plans that weren’t happening. And then as time progressed, Dallas has been the best thing that has ever happened to me.”

As Harrison embraced the discomfort that came with moving to a new city, this pivot came with the end of a long-term relationship. Though she imagined a future with her ex, she eventually had to endure the stages of grief as the relationship came to an end.

Her pain manifested into the songs, which walk us through Harrison’s journey as she felt all the feels.

“I was moving to Dallas, and they were doing their own thing,” Harrison says. “I think [the song] ‘Finally Forgot Your Number,’ to me, stands for when you’re moving on. Like, if something good happens in your life, you’re not calling that number, or you’re not calling that number to come help you from the side of the road. Because in all honesty, I’ll probably never forget a number of a person that’s always been so close. But I was still trying to say, ‘OK, I’m gonna do this. I’m gonna move. I’m gonna be successful.'”

The EP opens with an intro called “Disconnected,” with Harrison letting a phone call go to voicemail, and her ex leaving a message at the tone. As he breaks up with her, another woman’s voice can be heard in the background. Over a guitar-driven instrumental, a heartbroken Harrison bids farewell to the man in question, even though it seems like she’s not ready to let go.

The skit was written by Harrison with the help of her friend, artist and poet Collie Mansion.

“I was talking to him because he went through the process with me,” Harrison says. “He talked to me on the daily and just had my back.”

The intro came naturally to these two friends, and Harrison says Mansion immediately saw the vision.

“I didn’t have to give him a script or anything,” Harrison says. “We came up with the idea that there would be a female voice in the background and that I needed him to make it like he was basically trying to say he didn’t want me anymore. He didn’t need me anymore, he was doing fine now. And he sent me that [voice clip] back, and he didn’t have to redo it or anything. It came out perfect.”

Granted, everyone experiences the stages of grief in different orders, as evidenced by the second track, “Denial,” where Harrison expresses frustration over the heartache and the shame of having to go through the motions again and again. “How many more songs do I have to sing?” she asks on the song’s pre-hook.

Harrison says that while writing “Denial,” she “wasn’t in the groove of making it,” but she says putting it out there has helped her let go of the shame of dating life gone wrong.

While Harrison may be a self-proclaimed “notes girly” when it comes to writing her songs, she says much of Finally Forgot Your Number came by way of freestyling in the studio. Such was the case for a song called “Betrayal,” in which she vividly describes the pain with which she’s grappling.

That pain has quickly evolved into anger, as she angelically sings about “Calling 911 for this murder scene / Who committed this crime? I guess I gotta blame me.”

Another standout track is the percussive “Lonely,” on which she chooses herself over an ex, realizing that it’s better to find joy in her own company than returning to said ex or to attempt to replace them.

“Lonely,” however, wasn’t received well by her friends, and this made for a challenge for her, artistically. But ultimately she chose to include it on the EP, simply as a result of understanding “you’ve got to go with what you feel.”

There’s no cookie-cutter method of getting through a breakup, but Harrison offers some simple advice for anyone going through it. While it may be easy to mask the pain through various outlets, Harrison says it’s best to acknowledge and remove one’s vices, simply face the hurt of it all, and move forward.

“A lot of us, we try to avoid it,” Harrison says. “We try to talk to someone new, we try to drink, we try partying. But I feel like heartbreak can be the best time of your life, because it shows you who’s gonna be around for you and also who you are as a person. And I feel like a lot of heartbreaks are meant to happen.”