meadowhip – Getting Messy (2021)
While the internet is an amazing tool at our disposal, it is also a gateway into obsessions. Falling into a spiral of internet-fuelled obsession is easy, but reasoning yourself out of it is much harder. Fortunately, meadowhip is here to help with her single ‘Getting Messy’. Through the light-hearted, introspective and gentle self-analysis, she offers an internal monologue of self-rationalisation and impulse control.
While the single could take a heavy existential path, the playful melody and tongue-in-cheek lyrics lighten the mood. It is a wonderful showcase of light grooves and chaotic thoughts that swirl together on the back of hypnotic guitars. Bringing soulful flows to an alternative pop soundscape, meadowhip pull you into the vortex of digital media, while throwing you a line to help you get out.
‘Getting Messy’ grabs your attention with a sleepy tone that has a real late night feeling to it. The RnB tones of the melody pulse into a lo-fi feeling that warbles on the edges of your brain. There is a decadent feeling to the music when the tones swell for the chorus. As you listen to the melody, you can feel the gritty feeling of staying up way too late, as you spiral into an online obsession. While the late-night feeling of staying up online covers the melody, there is something that reaches through the soundscape to try and draw you out of your obsessive spiral.
While the melody brings this feeling to the single, it is the vocals that really give the body of the story. Her vocals are soulful, with a playful RnB edge, as they settle onto your skin, through the opening verse. The lyrics have you spiralling into obsession with her as she stays up and gives in to the urge to stay up online. It is an easy slide into the spiral which is a perfect sonic representation of what happens in real life. The chorus is the push against the obsession, as she reasons with herself and urges herself to close the computer and get some sleep. There is a wonderful push and pull that comes through the vocals that perfectly matches the thoughts that race through your mind at the times detailed in the lyrics.
With a slick slide and late-night vibe, meadowhip draws you into the spiral of digital obsession and reasoning with yourself to get out of it in ‘Getting Messy’. The music is decadent as it brings the gritty feeling of late nights spent spiralling online to life. The vocals pick up all the thoughts that go through your mind as you try to draw yourself out of the spiral only to be countered by the draw of obsession.
Find out more about meadowhip on her website, Facebook, Instagram and Spotify.
