Maya Yenn – How Much Sadness Can You Swallow? (2021)
Maya Yenn had our anxiety levels rising with the tense and heart-racing sound of ‘Tiptoe’. While letting up on the anxiety, her new single ‘How Much Sadness Can You Swallow?’ dives even deeper into dark themes. With a polished sound, she mixes nursery rhythm movements with shuddering bass to throw you into feelings of loss, blame and what we do with these emotions.
Written in response to a disturbing nightmare, the single takes a different turn to the last with a rich and expansive feeling. While the song has been around for about eight years, it has taken on a new meaning as Yenn became older. With a core of self-blame and loss, it dives headfirst into dark themes through a distorted, dreamy and woozy soundscape.
Yenn’s vocals open ‘How Much Sadness Can You Swallow?’ with a whisper that makes you feel like talking any louder will bring something nightmarish down on you. The whispered vocals rise for a chanting feeling on the chorus as they exclaim that the king is dead. While the lyrics take on dark themes, there is a dreamy delicacy to them. At times, the humming of her vocals floats into your senses like a pastel coloured cloud. This dips back to the whispered movement for an incredibly engaging rise and fall. This movement is somewhat reminiscent of a nursery rhyme which brings a new edge to the track. Her vocals are stunning in this single and bring a masterful and polished edge to the track.
While the vocals delve into dark themes, the melody spans out toward the horizon in the opening. The deep bass vibrates beneath your feet and threatens to throw you off balance. As you tumble through the beats, the synths bring a lush stab of sound on either side of you. It is an encompassing melody that takes you on a journey of its own. While there is a light and soft feeling to the music at times, this is tempered by a steel core that leads you further into the darkness. Every element of the single works together to create a dreamscape that could easily turn into a nightmare at any moment.
Take your senses for a tumble across the bass-driven and churning dreamscape of ‘How Much Sadness Can You Swallow?’ by Maya Yenn. With a melody that expands with lush instrumentation only to threaten to pull you off course with the bass, the track delves into dark themes. The vocals rise and fall with a polished edge enhancing the tentative balance of the single.
Find out more about Maya Yenn on her website, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Spotify.
