Vanda – Stranger (2024)
Hot on the heels of her 2023 debut album Sober In Another Life, including the critically acclaimed track ‘Honeydew’, Vanda dips again into the grittier side of being in her new single ‘Stranger’; because that is what Vanda is known for. Yes, her beautiful smile and bright eyes enchant listeners with mesmerising charm, but it is her intimate intensity and ability to relate that truly captures audiences.
After graduating from Hollywood’s Musicians Institute in 2018, US-based Vanda quickly entered the music scene co-writing and featuring on Lucidious’ album English in 2019. So, considering she’s been about for just on five years, Vanda is establishing herself in the industry. While she is not exactly a newbie, her music continues to astound not in her sophistication but in how sophisticated productions meld with a naïve youthfulness. In ‘Stranger’ her production skills continue this pattern.
Unlike her singles ‘Honeydew’ and ‘Eileen & I’, ‘Stranger’ adopts an ethereal, nostalgic and almost fairy-like dream-pop tone. Shifting from a harder pop-rock and indie-pop sound, the lighter song highlights Vanda’s versatility as an artist. A kaleidoscopic tapestry of synths, bold beats and lingering guitar and keyboards, ‘Stranger’ is comforting and warm. Interestingly, while loving warmth oozes from the track, particularly through Vanda’s rich vocals, a disconcerting fleck of vulnerability clings to the tune.
As I mentioned, she is known for her ability to resonate with audiences. From the tragic poignancy of ‘Fairytale’ wondering “if there is something more to life” to her grief in the personal song ‘Eileen & I’, Vanda is unafraid to explore human fragility. In ‘Stranger’, she steps into the realm of relationships – or rather the complexity of bygone relationships. Vanda explains:
“‘Stranger’ “poignant vocals deal with the loss of relationship and the cognitive dissonance of once knowing someone so intimately, and now only to see them as a stranger…”
With the bold beats pulsating like a broken heart, and the hazy synths swirling about in a confusing hum of despair, ‘Stranger’ is sincere, sentimental, and all too brutally honest. This is Vanda’s first release in 2024 and I cannot wait for what else she has in store.
Find out more about Vanda on her official website, Instagram and Spotify.
This artist was discovered via Musosoup #sustainablecurator
Listen to more exciting dream-pop tunes on The Other Side Reviews Dream Pop playlist:
