Lissie dives into her feelings with new track, 'Sad'

American singer-songwriter Lissie has been steadily releasing music for over a decade, but her 2016 album, 'My Wild West', clinched her status as a mixed-genre critical darling. 

She has since collaborated with Snow Patrol and performed live on 'Twin Peaks', among other professional accolades. O

n September 16th, she is set to release her fifth studio album 'Carving Canyons', which promises to be her most emotionally compelling yet. 

Following ambient rock tracks, 'Night Moves' and 'Flowers', comes the album's third single, 'Sad', a more hard-edged track packing a sharp emotional punch. While all three songs take inspiration from folk-rock greats a la Fleetwood Mac, 'Sad' brings Lissie's fervent vocals to centre stage through its understated production. 

Above anything else, 'Sad' is an emphatic pronouncement of hurt. It's a pure encapsulation of that post-breakup messy anger towards someone who doesn't seem to be suffering as much as you are. Lines declaring severance, such as, "I don't care, I hope you hate me", follow the cathartic chorus: "when you hear this song / I want you to be sad / like when you dropped that bomb / want it to feel like that". 

Lissie has described her upcoming album as a movement through the stages of grief. In a press release for her newest single, she shares that it's about claiming the "right to feel enraged", something that is "a universal but generally frowned upon emotion".

In many ways, the power of 'Hurt' is that it sits firmly in the immediate, heartbroken turbulence of a relationship dissolving. Lissie is a clear veteran of the industry - she strikes with ease at the cavernous depths of feeling to which she aspires. 

Lissie is currently touring the US and has dates in the UK lined up for autumn. You can buy tickets to her gigs in Kingston, Brighton, Portsmouth, or Southampton now. 

 

Eleanor Burleigh

@eleanoranneb

Image: 'Sad' Official Single Cover