Ten minute tea with Afternoon Tea. Spend ten minutes with Afternoon Tea. In the time it takes to boil one kettle, and let one cup of tea steep, we will have your daily art + music fix covered. Take your afternoon break with our Afternoon Tea curators. Need an extra lump of sugar? One more sip? If you have five minutes more (or ten), we have one more hit.
Today’s tea + soundtrack + visuals curated by Empty Melon.
Created and developed in Montreal’s DIY scene, Empty Melon (the solo project of Ada Lea bassist/producer Summer Kodama) follows up on her debut single, “Hoping to Find,” with “Don’t Look Away,” an atmospheric, dark, and emotionally charged song that transforms late-night spiralling into something strangely beautiful. Blending experimental electronics, art pop textures, and cinematic sound design, the track embraces discomfort rather than avoiding it, finding clarity through directness, vulnerability, and self-confrontation.
“Don’t Look Away” first emerged during a solitary drive in the early hours of the morning. “It started with spiralling while driving alone at 2am and improvising on the bass guitar,” Summer explains. What began as a fleeting emotional moment gradually evolved into a meditation on honesty, both with others and with oneself.
That commitment to honesty ultimately became the emotional core of the song. While the title may initially sound confrontational, for Summer it represents something much more personal.
Stream + share “Don’t Look Away” now:
“I think there’s a catharsis to expressing yourself and your needs with plain, direct language,” she says. “It allows you to facilitate an alignment with your most authentic self. Honesty is the most important component of self-expression.”
That sense of emotional directness is reflected throughout the production. Where “Hoping to Find” drifted through the hazy space between sleep and wakefulness, “Don’t Look Away” occupies a darker emotional landscape. Summer describes the two songs as “polar siblings,” with one basking in sunlight while the other emerges under the cover of night.
Written during the same month in May 2024, the tracks reveal two contrasting sides of the same creative period. If “Hoping to Find” explored rediscovery and openness, “Don’t Look Away” leans into uncertainty, introspection, and the courage required to face difficult truths head-on.
The recording process itself became an exercise in experimentation and trust. Seeking greater accountability and creative freedom, Summer found an important collaborator in Leo Bagel, keyboardist for Post NC. “I’ve been finding it extremely helpful having a collaborator to experiment with,” she explains. “I already feel two opposing voices in my brain, so the third brings balance, inspiration, and more accountability.”
– one piece of music
Tchaikovsky Symphony no. 4 in F minor, Movement II: Andantino in modo di canzona (performed by the Berlin Phil with Herbert von Karajan)
– one visual
Concept Art Pieces for ‘Cinderella’ by Mary Blair:
– one type of tea to pair with the post
Hot London Fog (with half & half), with a teaspoon of maple syrup.
All of these pieces possess a dark whimsy that I find very magnetic and emotionally resonant (as someone with an 8th house sun sign – for the astrology lovers). I listened to this movement of Tchaikovsky 4 repeatedly during my senior year of high school. I remember observing echoes of the winter sunset in the apartment where my mom and I lived at the time. I felt alone, I think I wanted to get away… even if it meant self abandonment. This music was both a respite from and acknowledgement of those feelings.
I’ve also made the self pact since then to hold myself through the ups and downs in every stage of my life.
Mary Blair is my current favorite visual artist. I find it very interesting that she was a concept artist for Disney from 1940 – 1953. She was always praised for her bold and unconventional use of color, and definitely falls out of the “modern corporate standard for commercially viable art”. Her pieces feel emotionally layered and express the nuance of both love and conflict – the pessimism yearning for optimism – the ominous darkness hovering above the magic, all sharing the same canvas.
I think the London Fog is totally self explanatory based on the vibe of both the music and art selection.
Tea + Me 