New Single Release: TATYANA – “Down Bad”
12 January 2024
A ‘bang’ would be too violent address singer-songwriter Millie Turner’s return to the music industry. Her new single, ‘Venus’ is more of a sparkle: a shimmering star that plays like the lovechild of Lorde and FKA Twigs.
A letter of adoration to the mythological goddess Venus, a glittering melody and gentle drums harmonize with mellow, pitchy vocals, evoking both the softness and strength of femininity. The imagery of the ocean has the same effect, a thought echoed in the underwater visual of the single’s cover art. A submerged, softly focused Turner seems to be immersed in the quiet power of her own womanhood as she gazes at the camera.
At first, the track’s ethereal soundscape appears threatened by the pre-chorus “sharpen the claws, bending the verse, digging the way to space for Venus”.
But that’s not without good reason, Turner explains in an Instagram post:
“I pictured a group of scientists with their notebooks and sampling backs on an expedition to mine Venus for her soil,”
“But beauty is always more mysterious and complex, and we cannot use rationality to play its games.”
It serves to highlight Turner’s message that subtle beauty may be unexpected, but once noticed, it cannot be ignored.
The track is the sonic twin of the building of a gentle wave, rising into a chorus before softly falling back into surrounding verse. Drums and cello dance hand in hand with Turner’s vocals. And with the lyrics “I took to the sky/and saw the rocket breathing residue/they saw that I saw you first”, it is emphasised that a woman’s own beauty is appreciated by herself in a way that cannot be perceived by others.
It’s clear Turner is an aesthete, turning a blind eye to Venus’ other, less-visual qualities of prosperity and victory. But with lilting vocals akin to a siren’s, it’s hard not to be convinced by her sentiment.