Second preview of the forthcoming album from Santa Barbara indie/folk singer-songwriter, Wryn. No intensity is spared – they mean it, man.
Release Date: 23rd January 2025
Label: Righteous Babe Records
Formats: Digital
A SEISMIC SHIFT
Four years ago, the world of Wryn underwent a seismic shift. The Santa Barbara singer/songwriter’s world rocked, tumbled and turned itself inside-out as they looked inward, reassessed the traumas that they’d endured and began a new journey of self-discovery. That journey resulted in not just a name change but, more pointedly, in a revelational transformation to their relationship with gender. Wryn’s reinvention – in sound and spirit – became the ethos of their forthcoming album, Shapes.
Shapes will be with us on 28th March and you’ll be able to read about it right here, as soon as it appears; but – first things first – a string of singles have started to emerge to preview the album. First out of the traps was Steady, a song written during (and inspired by the challenges of) the 2020 pandemic; now, for the follow-up, Snake, Wryn turn attention to processing their anger at the social and political upheavals (guaranteed to intensify, no doubt, now that Mr Quorange is back the helm…) Specifically – the Black Lives Matter movement, anti-trans legislation and the overturning of Roe v Wade.
A RIGHTEOUS ANGER
In an expression of the emotions that they’d poured into the song, Wryn said: “This song stems from a righteous anger. A call to something older and deeper, it taps into my own personal experiences of not just systematic violence but the intimate + interpersonal kind. Having experienced assault in my past, this song was a way to transform my own pain into a call for action.”
SINCERE, INTENSE AND THOUGHT-PROVOKING
And the passion contained within that statement runs through Snake like a robust spinal chord. Indeed, the passion in Wryn’s delivery of the song intensifies steadily as the song progresses. OK, so lyrics like: “…shedding skin like a snake; hollow body, amen” and “Give it up – your power, speaking with the blood of every single mother, every mother I love” might have a cryptic element to them that might require a little unraveling, but there can be no doubting the sincerity Wryn’s message.
Musically, the production (by Bella Blasko of The National) is sparse – strummed electric guitar, with fret-buzz left in to add to the authenticity, and a synth, barely detectable at first, but a tangible presence later. That’s a wise choice, because Snake is all about Wryn’s lyrics and the vulnerable vocal tones (imagine Melanie in one of her tenderer moments…) with which they deliver them.
Snake isn’t an easy listen, but it’s sincere, it’s intense and it’s thoroughly thought-provoking. As a statement of intent for the forthcoming Shapes album, it couldn’t be stronger.
Listen to Steady – the lead single form Wryn’s forthcoming album, Shapes, here:
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