Immersing us with enigmatic piano and breaths, fused with an elegant vocal frequency and textured details, Monique Barry opens her latest single, Time with the vulnerable lyrics, “I look at your eyes to try to connect with you, hope to see past your distance, it’s dark and it’s blue…”
As the song expands, we are hypnotized by the Toronto based artist’s story-telling, exquisite harmonies and moody vocal delivery. Time begins to pulse, as Monique sings “time heals all things” in an almost mantra-esque fashion.
Speaking on the themes of the track, Monique says “Time is a delicately atmospheric exploration of loss and connection. The piece is a response to the perils of dealing with COVID.”
“A structured soundscape of the cycle of thoughts and emotions that prevailed during the pandemic. Time is not out for a quick return but rather is designed to evolve in its own time.”
Speaking on her creative process, the rising artist says, “I discovered cold water swimming during the pandemic and found it to be of tremendous benefit both mentally and physically. I felt it only fitting to combine the therapies of songwriter and cold plunging when making the video for Time.”
As fans of the Wim Hof method, we love the concept that Monique is bringing to life with sound and visual to amplify healing for the individual and collective. “I take a cold plunge and strengthen my core for you…” sings the visionary artist.
Time features some French lyrics, as Monique sings “Je t’aime mon chou” and we experience Kevin Lacroix on guitar, Alisdair Jones on bass, Emma Campbell on additional vocals and Michael Philip Wojewoda on drums, vocals, mix and co-production. The photo and music video are by Daniel Bowman.
The faraway sighs on the record are intended to be “of someone who’s been running a great distance, it suggests, toward something…or away from it”.
We are hypnotized by the textural soundscape that Monique has created and have also been exploring her wider body of work including the preceding seven singles that lead up to the release of Time. Time has also been added to our New Music Spotlight playlist.