Victoria Taylor – Without You (2021)
Inspired by the book ‘The Two Lives of Lydia Bird’, Victoria Taylor explores navigating grief and the realisation that life will never be the same in ‘Without You’. Through the single, she hits you with the initial shock of loss and how moving through the stages of grief is the only way to ultimately find happiness. She also lets us know that it is okay to be alone and that you don’t need to be with someone to survive.
While telling a deep story through the lyrics, Taylor wears her heart on her sleeve. Having studied jazz and contemporary music, she merges it with some RnB and pop for a delightfully fresh sound. With a goal of empowering listeners, she fills her songs with love, pain, fear and strength leaving you ready to face anything that comes your way.
‘Without You’ bubbles to life with a captivating guitar line. There is a swaying dancing feeling to the music that brings a wonderful lightness to the single. The layers of the melody work delicately together to form a bubbling brook of sound that you can easily relax into. The softness of the melody forms the perfect foundation for the emotive and powerful vocals. While forming this foundation, the light movements do enhance the emotions Taylor brings with the vocals.
Taylor’s vocals are what really make this single as she softly draws you into an intimate feeling through the opening only to build in power as the song continues. Her voice has a whispering quality as she works through the first moments of grief and feeling lost without the other person. This turns into a pain-filled power that cuts through your chest. While she fills you with the sadness of loss, as the song progresses, you are filled with a tentative hope. This is beautifully woven between the feelings of pain and longing to give you that glimmer of something better.
Victoria Taylor fills you with pain, longing, grief and tentative hope through the building tones of ‘Without You’. The single is really made with her vocals which move from soft whispers to powerful pain-filled cries and the blossoming of hope. Beneath her vocal performance is a steady melody that enhances the emotions she brings into play.
Find out more about Victoria Taylor on her website, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Spotify.
