Kelowna's Kristal Jem is gearing up to release her first EP called 'Echoes of Eternity,' aiming to take listeners on a musical journey through a unique lens.

Originally from Vancouver Island, Jem relocated to Kelowna in 1997 before attending North Vancouver's Capilano University in 2008 where she studied musical theatre. 

"I've always had a natural ability to sing and my mom can think of times when I was little and I was sitting at the table humming with food in my mouth so it's always been present in my life," says Jem.

After finishing University, she spent her early music years on stage at the Kelowna Actors Studio in various productions such as Leisl von Trapp in The Sound of Music. Then after relocating to Calgary, she decided to move back to Kelowna in 2015 where she remains today. 

"When I moved back, I started discovering my own voice and my own genre so I use components of my classical voice and my musical theatre, along with some soul, R&B and hip hop. So it's become a very eclectic genre," says Jem.

She has also starred in other local productions including the original Rocky Horror Show and The Great Gatsby. 

By 2017, she started working on original material with producers Tyler West and MC Equality while also performing at Canadian music festivals such as Princeton's Curiosity Musical Festival and Calgary's Electrodeo.

Her EP Echoes of Eternity produced by Tyler West, is described as an uplifting musical experience which uses the ancient language Sanskrit.

"It's very diverse and has full body crescendos, delicate comedowns, behind some very deep heavy bass. It's very eclectic which is like myself, so I use my operatic vocals and he (Tyler West) uses some really amazing drum and bass," says Jem.

"Echoes of Eternity is not sung in English, its sung in Sanskrit which is an ancient language, stems from a lot of different languages in our world and its very sacred and very conscious. The meanings behind them are like mantras so I use them during meditation and throughout my life to get me over obstacles."

And while listeners might not understand the lyrics, Jem says the delivery of the phrases will resonate with listeners in a positive and subconscious way. 

"My hope is that people listen to it with an open mind and take away the positive aspects of it," she says. "It can sound like a lot of noise to some people cause it's very different, it's not mainstream, it's not pop, but it does have a lot of meaning to it."

The Sanskrit phrase 'Aham Brahmasmi' translates to 'I am the wholeness of universal existence.' Another phrase 'Om Ritam Naham' translates to 'My actions and desires are supported by cosmic intelligence.' These are both sung in Echoes of Eternity.

"Echoes of Eternity has been three years in the making, it's been a long time coming. We wrote it in 2017 right before I got pregnant and when I got pregnant we toured with it to music festivals. From there, we sat on it and I was busy being a mom so I didn't have a lot of time to promote it so now that my daughter is getting older and I have a lot more time on my hands, it's been really refreshing and relieving to finally have it coming online," says Jem.

The EP features four songs called Rift, Equality Rises, Fair Oasis and Dawn. It will debut online on Oct. 16. For updates, free downloads and upcoming release information, click here.