Establishing the mood with a luscious alternative rock meets dream pop energy, Sonny Myall opens his single, What She Left Behind with intricacy and intrigue.
Delivering conceptual lyricism and synthetic vocal production, we are immediately mesmerized by What She Left Behind. Speaking on the meaning of the track, Sonny Myall confesses, “What She Left Behind is an exploration of the indelible mark of grief and loss, loneliness and despair, with a small suggestion of hope in the darkness.”
We appreciate the tight production and interweaving harmonies which add to the atmospheric energy and profound lyricism of the opus.
The talented legend that is Sonny Myall plays guitar, sings, and plays bass on his solo project. Sonny has been making music for many years in various bands in Bristol in the United Kingdom, although only recently started releasing under his own name in 2021.
With What She Left Behind, Sonny tells us that he wanted to experiment with a single note in the verse, “so vocally there is one vocal part that stays on a single note throughout”. Harmonies are built around that note, weaving and dancing around it, but the single note was important to the song’s theme of grief and loss – there’s a kind of plaintive persistence to it that reflects the indelible nature of grief.
He adds that “What She Left Behind was inspired by a few pieces of literature, but predominantly a stanza in Carol Ann Duffy’s poem, Mrs Lazarus. In it, Duffy describes Mrs Lazarus moving through the house and disposing of her deceased husband’s clothes. Much of the verse of What She Left Behind is a list of objects scattered around that remind the narrator of the person who has left. Ultimately the song is about the way that objects take on symbolic value because they remind us of the connections we have with people, places and times.”
The rising artist cites Tunng, Teenage Fanclub, Villagers, Neil Young, Aldous Harding and Radiohead as some of his influences, which we can feel come through in the record, although it is clear that Sonny Myall is creating a universe of his own.
We love Sonny Myall‘s energy and sense of authenticity with his artistry, and have added What She Left Behind to our New Music Spotlight playlist, whilst we also stream his previous singles including Keep It Quiet.