Kiah Tooke
As the term draws to a close, Kiah reviews some of her favourite single releases of the week.
willow – Taylor Swift:
Despite already having released the critically acclaimed album ‘folklore’ just months ago, Taylor Swift surprises fans with another surprise album, ‘evermore’ – the sister album of ‘folklore’. Continuing with her indie-folk inspired sound, willow is the lead single of the album and sees Taylor stripping back her produced pop for country guitars and soft vocals.
Accompanying the new single is a mystical music video staring Taylor and Taeok Lee, one of her back-up dancers whilst she is on tour. After climbing into her piano, Taylor embarks on a supernatural quest to be reunited with the person she is in love with, played by Lee. The music video is directly linked with the music video for cardigan, as willow begins where it left off; fans have speculated that the songs are therefore intertwined and follow the aftermath of the love triangle introduced in ‘folklore’.
Filled with love and longing, Taylor in her the Vevo chat for the music video premier said, “I think it sounds like casting a spell to make somebody fall in love with you”. The song is rumoured to be based on her relationship with Joe Alwyn who Taylor has been with since the summer of 2016.
The song echoes the inspiration Taylor has taken from her country roots, resulting in more natural vocals and simple backing
willow’s lyrics hold several parallels with tracks on ‘folklore’; the longing for someone to wreck your plans so you can be together is a strong theme in august, and the mention of the scars that love can leave was mentioned in cardigan. The song echoes the inspiration Taylor has taken from her country roots, resulting in more natural vocals and simple backing.
Rainbow – Dodie:
The second single released from Dodie’s upcoming album, ‘Build A Problem’, Rainbow is a peaceful acoustic track that explores her experiences of being part of the LGBTQ+ community. The song was originally released on Dodie’s YouTube channel celebrating pride in June 2018, before being professionally recorded for her second album, which is set to be released in early 2021.
Accompanying the song is a string arrangement which makes the track sonically graceful and calming to listen to. In an Instagram post unveiling Rainbow, Dodie shared how “this is the beginning of the six songs on this album that are tied together seamlessly by this beautiful 13-piece string section I composed for!”. Exploring her talents in composing and arranging music, ‘Build A Problem’ has the potential to see Dodie reach new heights showcasing her talents and musical ability.
In the description of the original YouTube version of the song, Dodie wrote “This is a song I wrote around the shame LGBTQ+ people go through, and therefore the importance of pride”. Being bisexual, Dodie has shared her experiences of feeling ashamed of her sexuality and how growing up she didn’t feel safe to express herself. Rainbow’s lyrics touch on these moments of her life and celebrates the acceptance Dodie faced when coming out publicly in 2016.
butterfly – Sody:
London singer-songwriter Sody has unveiled new EP ‘real growth takes time’, with butterfly being the lead single for the collection of alternative and electronic pop. Known for her deeply introspective and emotional songs, butterfly fits her previous releases through its hopeful emotional message inspired by Sody’s experience of 2020.
Sody has continued with her delicate melodic releases with butterfly, bringing an uplifting message during the difficulties of 2020
The lyrics of butterfly relate the metamorphosis process that a caterpillar goes through to become a butterfly to Sody’s own life, and how transformation can take place from the lowest points. After reflecting on butterfly, Sody commented how during lockdown she ‘’felt alone at times during those months and had a lot of time to think about my life, my experiences and my own actions’’ which inspired the writing process for ‘real growth takes time’.
Despite not having released an official album yet, Sody has had success with previous EP ‘I’m Sorry, I’m Not Sorry’ and a collaboration with Cavetown on single is your bedroom celling boring?. Sody has continued with her delicate melodic releases with butterfly, bringing an uplifting message during the difficulties of 2020.
Kiah Tooke
Featured image courtesy of Nina via Flickr. Image license found here. No changes made to this image.
In-article images courtesy of @taylorswift and @doddleoddle via instagram.com. No changes made to these images.
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