Sasha Adrian last paid us a visit in January, with a song, ‘IMDb’, in which she revealed that her reluctance to watch some parts of a movie arises from her PTSD resulting from a sexual assault, which manifested itself as OCD and then transferred her fears into real life, for example reading danger into a budding relationship where there is none. And hence no relationship either.
That was pretty heavy going and there is no respite in this new single of hers, ‘Shell’ in which she challenges the myth as she sees it that you can simply speak out about abuse and will be heard, when in fact you actually end up imprisoning yourself when others almost imperceptibly take over, sexualise or patronise you and ramp up the gaslighting as a result of you daring to air your grievance publicly.
For all its darkness there were flashes of humour too in ‘IMDb’, and she continues that tradition here with lyrics that confuse. After an opening line in which she laments that he (I’m assuming he) “makes a circle with his thumb and index finger” and all that might imply beyond the basic ‘ok’ message, the language moderates to a lighter observation that the fact that his body rubs on hers is sufficient to make her lose her sense of reality so that her friends look like they’re on video and all she can manage is to scream.
You couldn’t blame anyone for thinking that she’s a drama queen but then I suppose that’s the point.
There’s an excellent TV advert here in the UK at the moment to ‘Stop the Silence’ of suicide, in which various characters, all young, are seen laughing, smiling and being pleasant to everyone but as soon as there is no-one else in the room their demeanour changes dramatically.
I suppose you could draw parallels with Sasha’s world, in which her behavior can be normal until something unobserved and unappreciated by others but catastrophic to her takes place.
In the review of Myrkvi’s latest single a couple of days ago I pointed out how the arrangement of a song can suggest dramatic changes of mood irrespective of the lyrics and there is an excellent example here too in the form of a random explosive chord that sounds like an ocean going liner’s foghorn, I don’t know if it comes from guitar reverb, a synthesiser, both or neither, and which acts as a devastating counterpoint to a melody which is otherwise quite upbeat and jaunty.
One interpretation is that it represents a silent scream which only she can hear in her head. Whatever the case it is highly effective and I have to wonder what it will sound like live. If they can replicate it they might find the audience heading rapidly towards the fire exit.
Or perhaps it’s the sound of that ‘Shell’ in which she has cocooned herself fracturing.
There are more questions than answers but ‘keep ‘em guessing’ has been a worthy standby for many artists and of course offers the opportunity to get the answers – or not – on the follow up album.
Which in her case is an EP, due out shortly.
Before then she’s touring, with her first ever foreign show, at Waves, Vienna (5th September), followed by dates in Italy, Sweden and Denmark in October through December. Throughout she will be backed by a five-piece band.
Find her on:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sashadrian
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/_sashaadrian/
