Ginger Winn - ‘Freeze Frame’
Kingston, New York-based singer-songwriter Ginger Winn has just released her second album, Freeze Frame, so we decided to have a look at a couple of bangers from this new spellbinding release.
“Socrates” is a confident, spectral and muscular musical statement by Ginger Winn. It drifts breezily over you like a lucid dream, never demanding your attention but instead asking reflectively to seep into your skin. The track also gives a hint that it could detonate at any moment in a way that all indie rock tracks should.
For the most part the track is held together by an effortless sense of rhythm. A tight drum beat and an earthy, dark bass. Sparse use of guitar and weightless effects dress the hypnotic atmosphere allowing all attention to shine on the vocal of Ginger Winn. Ghostly, as if cascading off the walls of an abandoned cathedral her delivery pulses with the ease of a distant tide.
What makes “Socrates” a powerful track for me is the vivid uses of texture as we are guided into the composition’s final stages. The drums buoyantly shift into a breakbeat groove that bring to mind electronic arrangements such as “Let Forever Be” by The Chemical Brothers or even the handy work of Stella Mozgawa from Warpaint if we remain in the indie rock genre. Supporting this mood shift is razor edged guitar work that sounds almost like a menacing synth.
Behind the lyrical meaning of the track Ginger Winn adds: “Socrates is about the unknown legacy we all leave behind. The song is inspired by this idea about philosophy and planting seeds for a future we’ll never see, and I brought in what I was going through—growing up, leaving home, moving to South Africa, and missing my mom life with my mom. It became a song about how we’re shaped by the people who raised us and how we, in turn, shape others—even if we’re not around to see the impact.”
Next up is “Cold Plunge,” which Ginger Winn describes as “taking the plunge to leave an abusive relationship.” With this track we are treated to stripped back introspection with a lush little descending guitar hook that feels almost as if it was lifted from an early Portishead record. Vulnerable, confessional, these sections really allow the lyrics and vocal to take centre stage.
“Cold Plunge” unapologetically shifts gears many times and aren’t we grateful for it! With one hell of a sonic punch we are hit in waves with pure indie rock that seems set on scorching any trace of a toxic relationship.
In these more raucous sections gritty, edgy guitar and a tight mechanical drum beat force the music forward with a Garbage-like intensity. Unrelenting and giving the hint that the mirror has been kicked on the way out after applying the eye liner. Ginger Winn doesn’t pull any punches here either singing each line with an intensity of a fiery anthem.
Inventive, sonically playful, and rich with dizzying texture that reveals fresh nuances upon each listen, Freeze Frame is out now. Connect with Ginger Winn: Spotify | Instagram | TikTok