Sonny Casey – “Silence”
Photo by lineshootsfilm
Irish indie folk artist Sonny Casey has just released the moving sounds of “Silence,” a song that confronts the lasting scars of a troubled childhood and the pain of growing up without answers or accountability.
For the first half of “Silence,” it’s as though Casey has simply opened her guitar case and sat down next to you, revealing a sparse, vulnerable production. Her vocal performance is soft and soothing, at times barely above a whisper, a quality we’ve come to love from artists such as Adrianne Lenker and Gregory Alan Isakov.
By the midpoint, “Silence” opens up into a full-band arrangement that includes subtle piano and a barebones rhythm section. In the distance, atmospheric ambience perfectly fills in the remaining spaces, but it’s abundantly clear that this tune was designed for introspection and not slow dancing in the kitchen.
On the refrain, Casey layers in a fantastic vocal harmony, allowing the hook to resonate, and with lines like “Do you think of us, do you think of then?” it’s obvious that the wounds of childhood don’t simply disappear with age. And if the top-notch performance and production do not immediately win you over, we have a feeling that her poignant lyricism will finish the job.