New Single Release: Lola Young “Wish You Were Dead”
23 January 2024
Since starting as a way to avoid their final cert performance in College, NewDad has certainly propelled through the alternative scene, acing the festival circuit in previous years. Having recently signed to Atlantic Records, it looks like there is no stopping them.
White Ribbons is a simplistic soundtrack to reminisce on lost innocence, growth and self-assurance through hard times. As the band’s Instagram describes it; a love letter to themselves. (suitable through the January blues) The mellowing instruments provide a gloomy backdrop to Lead, Julie Dawson’s hauntingly soft voice.
Opening the track, a low murmur from a guitar starts as a guide, producing clean and warm cathartic tones. The lead vocal phases in after a few seconds, uttering the sorrows of past hardships. A childlike whimsy is present in her tone, as if a distant memory had been unearthed, yearning for the double-edged sword of innocence to come back swiftly. Moving forward into the crescendo, her phrasing reflects an ethereal presence in the exaggerated length of ‘White Ribbons’, parallel to a church hymn or religious incantation.
Progressing towards the end of the track, there is a pause on the rest of the instruments, and a lower section is sung to highlight the importance of isolation, emotionally and in the mix. Building audible tension towards the body as a vehicle of depression, ‘Broken down once or twice’ / ‘Jump start to save your life’. A final repetition of ‘White ribbons wrapped around me’ / ‘soft pink flesh that hugs me tightly, it’s so pretty how you fix yourself every time’. Layers distortion from a sweeping wall of sound produced by several Violins, dancing around her vocal. Which breaks up the section with eloquence. The rhythm of the guitar at the beginning is heard once again eventually quietening, resolving the hymn.
The overall sonorous atmosphere relates closely to the Irish phrase: Ar scáth a chéile a mhaireann na daoine. Under the shadow of each other, people survive. A message that is clear through the track.
The song’s audible and visual storytelling is viscerally present in a sparsely occupied sonic space. Displaying the talent of the quartet that was founded in the stagnation of lockdown. Which has seemingly influenced their sound. Their talent can be compared to the compelling lyrical rivalry with Kate Bush and rhythmically to Grouper.
If White Ribbons is anything to go by, NewDad will soon dominate the charts with Madra, marking an excellent beginning of their journey in the alternative sonic landscape.
