Song Review - Hayley Marsten - Drowing Myself
REVIEW BY: SARAH BONNET
Starting a review with a Taylor Swift comparison might be risky but I have to say it: listening to Hayley Marsten’s new song “Drowning Myself” gives me the same “feel-good” feeling that I get when I listen to Taylor Swift.
The song starts with an upbeat and bright synth, which immediately lets you know that you’re in for a bop. It is soon heightened by a few sparkly guitar chords. The vocals then come in adroitly, showing us right out the gate that Hayley mastered the art of using her voice to convey emotions.
A salient feature of this song is the contrast sad lyrics/uplifting music. Personally, this is my favourite type of music: a way to relate to the words and let the bad feelings out while picking yourself up as you dance/vibe to the track. Especially since, despite the song being written just after a very bad period of depression the singer went through, it kind of conveys a positive message: that sometimes, you are able to pull yourself out of the deep end.
Halfway through the verse, a hearty kick drum picks the pace up only to lead us back to an airy, and slower pre chorus. Here, Masten sings the line “Out there in the ocean…” and between the reverb and the reduced number of instrumental layers, it does feel like stepping into a big open space, like we are indeed facing the ocean. A country-sounding guitar also makes a short appearance, hinting at the artist’s alt-country roots.
The first chorus is short but efficient. The upbeat guitar we heard in the intro makes a comeback and the vocals “I was only drowning myself” cleverly summarise what the song is about. After that, the second verse sounds both familiar and new, bringing back elements from the first verse but gradually introducing new and exciting layers of drums, backing vocals, guitar.
After the second chorus, an optimistic bridge starts softly but increases both in terms of intensity and self-affirmation, right until we reach the final chorus. An isolated vocal line offers us a last moment of calm before the “storm”, then a drum fill leads us right into a contrasting and hard hitting final chorus, which concludes the song perfectly.
Overall, Hayley truly reached a new level of vulnerability while creating a song that you can dance along too and I’m excited to see what’s next for her.
