Track of the Day: Vanda – Eileen & I (2023)
With a reputation for raw honesty, genuine sincerity and a soul-stirring intimacy in her music, singer-songwriter Vanda finds human fragility and tugs with a silvery sonic thread. When we last heard Vanda, she was turning heads with her single ‘Fairytale’ – in her words: “…an emotional ballad written from the point of view if life has any more to offer or if this is the best it gets…” In her latest release ‘Eileen & I’, the one we are about to look at, Vanda once again looks at life, what it has to offer, and how a tragic accident altered an overall perspective.
During the final stages of making her upcoming debut album, Sober In Another Life, something totally unexpected swiped at Vanda changing her life entirely – the unexpected and tragic loss of her best friend, Kaylee Eileen Murphy. As with most people facing the death of someone they care about, Vanda felt overwhelmed emotionally and mentally. Grief can be hard but using music as a catharsis helps ease the pain, or at least cope with it.
A tribute to Kaylee, ‘Eileen & I’ has a soothing mellifluous tone with a gentleness to the melody. On one hand, it appears to be a calming, pleasant and warm sonic river but it also oozes melancholic vulnerability. Beginning as a simplistic mix of keyboard with Vanda’s rich vocals, there is beauty in the minimalist sound. Once the beats come in and the synths surge forth, your head is filled with kaleidoscopic smoke engulfing you in one fell swoop.
With poetic lyricism, Vanda delicately sifts through difficult emotions and grief at its rawest level. “If I think as hard as I try, will it take me back in time…” – a hopeful thought that the person we love continues to be part of us, but also a painful reminder that we will not see that person again in this life. Vanda’s rich vocals adopt a haunting tone flitting across the melody drawing you into her grief but also unravelling the pain to cope with its tragedy.
Listening to ‘Eileen & I’ can be heartbreaking but the inclusion of real-life notes between Vanda and Kaylee brings a whole new level of intimacy to the track. Intense and honest, Vanda tugs at that silvery thread of vulnerability and has us lost in the haze of grief before taking a deep breath hopefully leading toward healing.
For more from Vanda, check out her official website, Instagram and Spotify.
This artist was discovered via Musosoup #sustainablecurator
