Everything cracked when it got too close
We’re used to chaos being something we watch from a distance. Scrolling past headlines, hearing the noise through our phones, maybe arguing about it online. But for Janita, the rupture didn’t start on a screen. It started in the room next to her — in the voice of someone she loved.
What followed wasn’t an argument. It was something harder to define. She found herself living beside someone who no longer saw the same world she did. Not metaphorically. Literally. Reality had become contested.
"I was in a relationship where the other person was disconnected from reality and facts," she says. "It almost feels quaint now — the thought of having a conflict like that with just one person. I seem to have the same issue with much of the world now."
That moment of personal disconnection soon echoed outwards. What began at home — watching a loved one fall into another version of the truth — began to feel like a collective condition. The world had changed, and it wasn’t just online.
"It’s become harder and harder to tell what’s real and what’s not," she says. "Because of alternative facts, deliberate lying on behalf of a widening swath of politicians and media outlets, and because everyone has a megaphone on social media whether they deserve one or not."
Her question — why can’t you see what’s right in front of your eyes? — isn’t rhetorical. It carries the tone of someone who’s tried to explain, waited to be understood, and watched that possibility fade. And as reality bends further with deepfakes and AI, the stakes feel even higher.
"Now we have AI, with deepfake photos and videos blurring the lines of reality even more. We no longer have a common reference for what’s true. Half of the world seems to have been hypnotised and brainwashed, and the rest of us are waiting for them to wake up."
Janita isn’t searching for certainty. But she’s drawn to the process of trying to understand — even when it breaks down. Her upcoming album is called “Mad Equation”, a phrase borrowed from physics to describe unpredictability.
"The title Mad Equation is about trying to do the math to figure someone out. Trying to size someone up," she explains. "I think it’s fair to say that over the course of my career, people have been trying to figure me out too. Am I the long-haired blonde soul singer? Am I the Finnish teenage star? Am I the American alternative rock’n’roller? Gosh, I’m just such a problem. So, maybe I’m a mad equation for some. Well, with this new record, problem solved."
Her refusal to conform isn’t a pose. It’s survival. And in this moment — where truth fractures and identity gets flattened — there’s something grounding in the way she insists on being fully herself. Not to prove a point. Just to stay real.
Because when people around you start vanishing into unreality, sometimes the most powerful thing you can do is remain visible.
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