Bess Atwell - “Release Myself”
In celebration of her upcoming LP, Light Sleeper, Brighton-based singer-songwriter Bess Atwell has gifted us the remarkably vintage-ingrained sounds of a new single, “Release Myself.”
To be quite clear, we were immediate fans of this track once we learned that it explored the turbulence of Atwell’s panic disorder. And considering how many of us were forced to become up-close-and-personal with our anxiety these past few years, we have a feeling that it will resonate with many music lovers.
If this is your first time reading our blog, you should know that we will drop everything to hear a song that sounds as though it has been baked in the ovens of analog gear. That’s exactly what you should expect once you press play on “Release Myself.” With its gritty sounds of guitar reverberating off the walls of a lo-fi rhythm, we find it warm and vibrantly reminiscent of acts like Big Thief and Sharon Van Etten. You will not find any evidence that this song was forged on a computer, which immediately hits our niche.
And although the arrangement is simply divine, Atwell’s vocal is a beacon of light that shines across the soundscape. In her more subdued moments, she has complete control, somewhat akin to Brandi Carlile, but her upper register is a full-throttled engine of emotion that we suddenly need like air. Between her voice and the enchanting flourishes of guitar, “Release Myself” is a song that begs to be heard live.
About the track, Atwell adds: “There are always a couple of songs on a record that just sort of fall out of you and this was one of them. This was the first time I’ve managed to write about my panic disorder without slipping too far into sorry-for-myself or cheesy, faux-empowering territory. It’s a song that says ‘hey I’m struggling but I’m not a victim.’”
If you like what you hear (and we know that you will), be sure to catch Atwell on tour this year:
-HD