Terminator's debut album last year made it clear the band was already pushing past the limits of traditional hardcore. It also landed on No Echo's Best Hardcore Records of 2025 list. With the new single, "My Heart Growing Wings," songwriter Shae Alexandra says the project is now more personal than ever. The music directly reflects her life and the changes she has gone through in the past year.
Terminator has always included collaborators in the studio and on stage, but Alexandra says the creative process is now more focused on her alone.
"The lineup on the LP, as well as this release, are the same in that it's been me writing and recording everything," she tells No Echo. "All the same influences are still here within me—I'm just getting better at playing guitar."
That evolution has unfolded naturally since the band began. "Since the inception of Terminator, the band has slowly grown... or shrunk... to become a bit of a solo project," she says. "I have several collaborators that I work with regularly who help bring this project to life in a live setting."
This shift has changed what Terminator stands for as a project. "This project has become a reflection of my personal life," Alexandra explains. "I think that can be seen through the LP and now into this single."
Alexandra says the band's identity was not always as clear as it is now. "I think the image and direction of the band may have been somewhat confusing from an outside perspective up to this point," she says. "I was very unsure of myself and where I was headed for a long time."
Everything changed for Alexandra last September. "My egg cracked," the musician says. "I finally realized what I had been running from. I am a woman."
Embracing her identity has afforded clarity and happiness, but also real loss. "These realizations have sent my entire world crashing in many ways," she says. "I have lost employment, friends, and, most importantly, family."
She also describes feeling emotions that formerly seemed impossible. "The way I navigate the world has changed greatly," Alexandra says. "Immense feelings of joy and happiness unlike anything I've ever experienced are now possible. Understanding myself has brought forth so much positivity personally—but my newfound joy has been largely met with a 'fuck you' from the world."
Instead of holding back, Alexandra channels these emotions into Terminator's music. "I have a therapist. I have medication. But the way the world has refused to embrace my new identity has left me with a lot of hard feelings," she says. "My music is the vessel for these feelings."
"My Heart Growing Wings" is more than just another song for Terminator. Alexandra sees it as a message of solidarity. "This song is for anyone living through the same shit," she says. "I love you all."
As for the future, Terminator has several live shows planned to support the single, but Alexandra says one country is now out of reach. "I can't come to America anymore because of new legislation that puts gender non-conforming ideology on terror lists," she says.
"There's no way I'm approaching CBP—especially not with some of the things I've said about American government officials and their collaborators on stage, which are documented on YouTube."
Through these setbacks, Alexandra is focused on pushing Terminator forward. The last full-length set the band's sound, but "My Heart Growing Wings" opens a new, more personal chapter built on honesty, resilience, and self-acceptance.
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