“please don’t joke about dying” by The Wren is a simple mixture of acoustic guitar, clear vocals, and other subtle textures. However, don’t let the stripped-down nature of this track fool you–this is one of the most hauntingly beautiful tracks you’ll ever hear. Coming in at a brief two minutes and fourteen seconds, this song packs loads of heart-breaking lyrics and emotionally gratifying musical composition into a short period.
The song fades in with a set of unique, finger-picked chords. The vocalist renders a melody that mimics the key notes in each chord. It’s an incredibly effective tool to play the lead line in the instrumentation. It adds a different texture to it. “You said you don’t live in the past / I’m not sure if that’s true,” she sings with gorgeous clarity. Throughout this section, we learn of a person who tries to hide how much they’re hurting inside. The lyrics slowly blossom from worry to comfort, and then, eventually, from comfort to hope. It’s a thrilling progression, drenched with mixed feelings and catharsis.
The latter half of the song is entirely instrumental. A continuously building string line ornaments the mix, injecting it with urgency. The pitch gets higher and higher as the number of stringed instruments multiplies. In the last moments, we’re left with a high, rather ominous chord. It feels like the musical equivalent of a cliffhanger, but in this thematically unsure tune, it’s the perfect ending.
Make sure you give The Wren a listen and a follow! This dynamic track really showcases her potential as an artist.
Written by Alyce Lindberg
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