Whitney Bjerken – i said that i wasn’t… (i was) (2024)
Hot on the heels of her EP Mental Gymnastics, which came out in March of this year, Whitney Bjerken released a new single on November 8 called, ‘i said that i wasn’t… (i was)’, which is actually her second since the EP. The first was released in September, giving us the sneaking suspicion that the 19-year-old singer-songwriter from the state of Georgia is gearing up for an album. While Mental Gymnastics is a solid EP of focused and contemplative sad-girl pop, ‘i said that i wasn’t’ takes similar lyrical themes of emotional conflict and reframes them in a pop-rock context.
The change suits her well. Her last effort was good, but the sad-girl territory feels densely populated these days, even though she elevates it with spot-on singing and an impressive range that brings a purer tone and tougher muscle to the genre. On ‘i said that i wasn’t’, Bjerken takes a straightforward riff that could be a full-on rock number and restrains it enough to fit in some pop trappings. Snappy background vocals interplay contrastively with her demurring vocal delivery that manages to communicate both regret and flippancy. It also allows her to incorporate some electronic flourishes including a final chorus that goes back and forth between a sustained bass note and acapella vocals that offer a shimmering response.
“i said that i wasn’t… (i was)” owes a lot to No Doubt and the sound they pioneered. Shades of Gwen Steffani appear especially in the background vocals, but that, of course, is not a crime. The song cries out for a bridge, though. During that brief moment of suspension after the second chorus when Bjerken hangs onto the last note, it feels like the song is set to go somewhere different, an alternate chord progression that gives the lyrics a chance to reflect on why the singer is so obstinately conflicted. But Bjerken keeps it in the same direction. I said that I wasn’t… I was. Got it.
To be fair, at a little over three minutes, there’s not a lot of fat on this song, which is a good thing. Once again, brevity (and the wisdom to keep it so) comes to the rescue, making this a solid, snappy pop tune from a promising young artist.
Find out more about Whitney Bjerken on her Facebook, Instagram and Spotify.
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