“Wedding Ring,” by Brooklyn-based indie project Skinny Dippers first debuted on February 11th, 2022. It begins about how you’d expect from the title, with slow, soft, and gentle vocals from frontman Ryan Gross. Except, perhaps surprisingly at first, the song contains melancholic qualities. Though the song is romantic, detailing fantasies of escaping to the sea with a lover, the story of the sadness in song is slowly revealed to be because the narrator is an unknowing participant in an affair with a married woman, failing to notice the wedding ring on her finger. Descriptive lyrics gentle guitar riffs paint visuals where “the sun pours in, naked in our summer skin,” echoing the warm, yellow-toned sunset present in the cover art.
Though it’s easy to guess the affair by the first chorus, it’s most explicitly stated in the final verse, ending the song on a chill-inducing, sorrowful note. This final verse is separated from the rest of the song by an emotional guitar solo, distinct and separated from the tone of the rest of the song. You can imagine this solo as a burst of emotion from the narrator, who remains muted with quiet acceptance for the rest of the song, finally sobbing with the realization that the girl he wanted to say “I love you” to viewed him only as a fling, and a distraction from her husband, letting out the betrayal of her lie and perhaps anger and embarrassment at himself for failing to comprehend or notice the fact that she had never even bothered to remove her wedding ring when they were between the sheets. “Wedding Ring” is a catchy, emotional song that leaves you wanting more, and we look forward to further releases from Skinny Dippers!
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