“I could still feel there was more. The world just kept spinning… My body was still. But inside, I kept tumbling.”
These words come from Laura Hickli’s therapy sessions, not lyrics. Her album dark secrets—the first of three—is anchored in a traumatic 24-second moment in 2023. While touring the U.S., her van skidded off the road, rolled three times down a slope, and left her confronting mortality in a surreal blur of slow-motion chaos. Though no one was seriously injured, the crash left a lasting physical and psychological mark, sparking a deep exploration of trauma, fragility, and meaning.
For Laura, who is autistic, the aftermath was particularly intense. PTSD, hyper-awareness, and sensory overload made recovery a daily challenge: “Sometimes I genuinely don’t know how I made it through the day,” she says. The songs on dark secrets reflect this struggle—raw, unsettling, and painfully human. Tracks like “Wanting” and “Little Girl” confront existential questions and past trauma, blending confessional reflection with attempts at acceptance.
Laura’s resilience is rooted in music. Raised in a highly religious household, she learned early to navigate complex belief systems, a theme explored in her previous release, Both Feet In The World, At Least I Can Stand. Touring and performing have long been her outlet, a way to process the battles in her mind. After the accident, she returned to music through exposure therapy, gradually reclaiming the stage and her creative voice.
dark secrets marks a step in Laura’s ongoing journey toward reconciliation with those 24 seconds. Recovery is non-linear, but through creation, performance, and connection, she finds a sense of understanding and communion. Her music is not just art—it is survival, witness, and a bridge to the world beyond trauma.
She previously served as a School and Public Programs Educator at The National Music Centre and brings over nineteen years of private music teaching experience to her practice. Beyond her solo work, she is a member of the Western Canadian Music Award-winning art rock band 36?, and co-owner of the boutique guitar pedal company 36? Circuits. Her expansive career embodies the transformative power of vulnerability, experimentation, and artistic risk-taking.