The Wren
The Wren
December
Singer-songwriter, The Wren, is a native of Arizona who now resides in Los Angeles. As this is just her second release, there’s not a great deal of backstory but the quality of this track, and her debut, lets you know that you’ve discovered something special when you hear her perform, so let’s get right to it.
Two seconds in, with just her voice and her guitar, you get a beautiful major 7th chord in the guitar and melody that is warm and inviting, in beautiful contrast to the potential heartbreak of the lyrics being sung. Instrumentally, its just her and a somewhat muted acoustic - maybe, maybe a deep drone in the back of the mix, or that could be overtones from the acoustic. Pristine tones, beautiful melody, but a brooding undertone for sure. Great start. Absolutely adore the chord choice for the chorus, love that minor 2 with the flat seven as a way to pull the song up, while her melody descends - great choice there. The natural choice for the next step is the 5 of course, and it falls perfectly in place with her melody.
Lovely little break before the second verse where we get introduced to some gentle percussion and a sole Rhodes-like tone in the back. Wonderful addition of texture. With the start of the second verse The Wren adds a beautiful section of backgrounds. Everything so far has been gently placed - well thought out - and builds really well. Despite the hurting nature of the lyrics, you can’t help but feel sonically embraced in warmth.
With the bridge, she takes an extensive detour that really pays off. What I love about the section is its length - its disregard for how these sections should be written in today’s standard (whatever it is). It allows her to dive deeper into the topic (and where the title of the song comes from) and give a great payoff with its final statement. Regular readers to my blog know that I love it when I get surprised, and this section certainly did that. Pay attention to the steady kick throughout this section that really drives home the intensity, and the voicings of the pads underneath. This is a great example of less is more.
With the third verse, the hammer gets dropped lyrically to drive home the point, and the backgrounds are the perfect compliment. She then revisits the bridge again to bring the song to a close, tagging a line for the payoff that goes perfectly with a sparse accentuation by an electric. Lovely track. Very well produced. Very well thought out. A perfect example of leaving enough room in the arrangement to let the story do the heavy lifting.
Make sure you scroll down to catch her socials and other tracks. Her debut, “please don’t joke about dying,” is a beautiful ballad with a gorgeous string section and a tender vocal performance. It’s a stunning track that is needed and poignant - thankfully we’re getting to a point in our society where we can express more emotions like this.
Congratulations on a beautiful track, Wren. I apologize if my labeling of the sections is not what you think - my brain’s a little funny that way, but take stock in the fact that I love that you didn’t sacrifice the story or length of the song to try and fit into today’s “3 minute rule.” The result is a beautiful piece of art that is helping solidify you as a great songwriter. Hope to see you live someday!