Browsing Tag

Grief

The existential indie dance pop icon Saynt Ego augmented grief in ‘Big Mad World’

Posted on 19 September 2023

The indietronica icon in the making, Saynt Ego, strengthened the foundations that his legacy will undoubtedly rest upon with his double A-side single, Looking 4 U – Big Mad World.

While the vocals sing a bitter-sweet goodbye, the augmented-with-funk melodic lines pull you to transcendence and acceptance in Big Mad World. The chaos of the universe is efficaciously encapsulated in the hypersonic soundscape, and all the assurance you will need that you can overcome any obstacle on your healing journey lingers in the lyricism, which rings with melancholy standing alone. Within the anthemics of the indie dance-pop hit, the candour-fuelled verses are awakening poetry, which alludes to the tragedy of obsession with earthly escapism.

Penned after losing his best friend to suicide, Big Mad World tracks cosmic themes while being underpinned by the grief of knowing that the human experience can’t always be traversed with resilience alone.

Occupying a middle ground between Cigarettes After Sex and ABBA, Saynt Ego found plenty of room to assert his authenticity in the self-produced release, which was written by Will Retherford and the airwaves on September 8th.

Stream Big Mad World on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Raelle transformed grief into grace in her orchestral RnB Jazz Fusion, Cruel Nostalgia

Posted on 2 December 2022

Following her phenomenally successful single Grace, the London-based breakthrough artist and producer Raelle is here with a gleaming fusion of jazz and orchestral RnB, Cruel Nostalgia.

After losing a close friend to suicide at the start of the year, Raelle was locked in a spiral of grief, where nostalgia was the only comfort and reprieve. Anyone who has ever suffered loss will know how impossible it is to envision anything but the wrenching depression that alienates you from everyone else that carries on in their on-kilter world.

Without the context, Cruel Nostalgia is a stunning score of soul, complete with cinematic flourishes which embrace the fleeting beauty of the bitter world through the live orchestral arrangements and acid-style percussion. In context, it radiates even more beguile by resonating as a sonic redemption story and definitive proof that even if you have to look to the innocence of youth to feel joy, it is still there for the taking.

Cruel Nostalgia will be available to stream from December 2nd. Check out the sensuous single via SoundCloud.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Phoenix and Wolfe feel the horrific pain but will continue the healing journey on ‘We’ll Get Used To It’

Posted on 29 April 2022
https://open.spotify.com/album/4Ao0t1n16GGO3Zv3JwiTMr

With a sweet melody and a sincere message that might cause a few small tears to be shed as you remember when you lost someone so close, Phoenix and Wolfe show us that it’s indeed possible to heal after you have taken the time to replenish your soul on their debut, ‘We’ll Get Used To It‘.

Phoenix and Wolfe is a Brazilian and Irish duo indie singer-songwriter duo who makes sensually vulnerable music that captures your heart and has you looking intently inside their message.

”The song truly comes to open up the heart as Amanda puts her art into motion, her song, in fact, her creation of new life and expansion after the loss of her husband five years ago.” ~ Phoenix and Wolfe

Formed by Amanda Shannon and Cairo Rocha, Phoenix and Wolfe show us their class with a tribute up there with one of the more caring singles you are likely to hear in 2022.

”Despite the heaviness of grief as a topic, this song is truly about hope for the dawn.” ~ Phoenix and Wolfe

‘We’ll Get Used To It‘ from the Brazilian and Irish duo Phoenix and Wolfe is such a beautiful song that shows you inside this tragic story of loss and heartbreak. They perform with so much honest energy and with stunning vocals that are combined with that mellow guitar playing that the moment needed, this is a single that you will feel overcome by. The raw emotion is for all to hear, as we are told a story that will send you into a reflective world, that might shake your core if you haven’t taken time to properly heal.

Listen up to this new single on Spotify and see more on their IG page.

Reviewed by Llewelyn Screen