There are protest songs that rage and then there are songs like Kristy Chmura’s “Wake Up” – quiet but resolute.
Originally released in 2018 on her debut solo album “Stained…Glass Heart”, “Wake Up” was born from deep ecological sorrow and a long-simmering desire to do something in the face of overwhelming climate change and environmental loss. In 2025, that call feels more urgent than ever and Chmura has answered it.
This newly released version, which dropped on Earth Day, is an emotional deepening of the original. In collaboration with Damien Musto and powerhouse talents Christian Eigner (known for his work with Depeche Mode) and Niko Stoessl, Kristy Chmura transforms the song into shimmering cinematic pop, steeped in atmosphere.
Chmura’s voice, as always, is the anchor. You can feel the roots of her message running deep. And they are: Kristy has spent the last decade volunteering with her town’s Shade Tree Commission, advocating for the preservation and restoration of urban forests and green spaces.
Her concern for the Earth is part of her daily life.
“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.”
That authenticity carries through to the song’s music video, a carefully constructed piece that blends projected visuals, environmental imagery and curated text drawn from reputable sources like the Arbor Day Foundation and the Audubon Society.
Chmura and her team at Sunbeam Productions, led by director Julia Schnarr, have created a mini-documentary within a music video. One that avoids heavy-handedness in favor of letting the images speak for themselves. We see forests burning, wildlife displaced, clearcut lands, and we see Chmura in the middle of it all, as witness.
The re-imagining of “Wake Up” was directly inspired by a haunting moment: the Canadian wildfires of recent years that cast a literal haze over Chmura’s New Jersey home.
The air turned thick, the sun dimmed to a blood orange, and the line between “out there” and “right here” collapsed. That moment has reignited the activist in her, and she returned to this song with fresh urgency and a wider vision.
In the noise of a burning world, “Wake Up” is something of a rare thing. A protest song that can soothe,stir, and stay with you. And these are the kind of reminders that climate action does not just happen in legislatures or classrooms. It begins when someone like Kristy Chmura picks up a guitar and says “I can’t be silent anymore.”
Connect with Kristy Chmura:
Website / Instagram / Spotify / Apple Music / YouTube Music
