Back in May we featured ‘Patterns‘, a single from Twin Cities-born, Olympia-based songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Annie Schultz. With a sound “somewhere between indie folk and classic goth and punk,” the song was about “being there for friends when it feels difficult enough to even be kind to yourself,” ultimately the tricky navigation of relationships while dealing with depressive periods. It’s a theme central to It Bends Until It Breaks, Schultz’s forthcoming EP via Trailing Twelve Records.
Latest single ‘Wave’ continues the brooding mood, opening in sombre gloom as Annie Schultz offers an introspective view on shame. “Here come the waves / Crashing, killing in their wake,” as she sings. “Get ready to pay / For these things you couldn’t do / Pay for the light they found in you.” Though if there’s something almost Catholic in these themes of guilt, the track’s second half blooms into the another facet of religious imagery. Because through the shadows rises something brighter, and by the closing minutes the song finds an almost triumphant tone as the rhythm picks up and violins lift it towards an elevated beauty.
Where the water’s cold
And waiting for
A burning soul
To come on in
Shed their sin
And try it again
It Bends Until It Breaks is out on the 4th August via Trailing Twelve Records.