Photo: Rick Clifford
Nighteyes is premiering her new single In The Wake ahead of its release to all digital stores tomorrow, February 16th 2023.
A dark ballad fusing acoustic guitars with evocative strings and synths, In The Wake explores the themes of climate change and catastrophe, imagining a post-apocalyptic world dealing with the fall out of industrialisation. In her own words:
“When I began to write this track back in 2014, the image in my mind was of a burning shore with choking smoke blocking out the sun, collapsing cliffs and fire all around. I wanted to create a mourning song that evokes the sense of helplessness that a lot of us feel when faced with the environmental catastrophes we’re facing today. The protagonist is on the water, looking back to a dead land that’s beyond repair. In the first verse, they’re beginning to realise the extent of the damage done, to the second verse inviting the listener to ‘let go’, to move away from the idea of saving the land they’re leaving behind. With the repeating lines in the chorus, the lyrics evoke a sense of disbelief, and how powerless we feel as individuals when faced with these huge world-wide issues”.
The aural listening experience of In The Wake opens with a menacing low rumble, evoking the catastrophe that precedes the song. A repeating pattern on the acoustic guitar weaves in with strings synth lines to create the perfect backing for Trainor’s haunting vocal melodies, bringing to mind the vocal stylings of Chelsea Wolfe, Emma Ruth Rundle and Lana Del Ray.
Trainor began the recording process for In The Wake while in between tours with other projects throughout 2021 and 2022, completing the final instrumentation in late 2022 in her home studio. “Although the instrumentation for this song is fairly simple, getting the right combination of instruments and parts for this track has been an interesting ride, and I thank my producer and partner Drew Handcock (Honeybone, Divine Wave) for his hard work in helping me to realise what I was hearing in my head”.
Nighteyes is tying the release of In The Wake to coincide with the opening weekend of The Defiant at Adelaide Fringe, a contemporary circus show that the song features in which Trainor is the sole musician for. Trainor explains “In The Wake is perfect for The Defiant, as the show takes place in a post-apocalyptic world, with the song evoking the catastrophe that took place before the show starts. It’s interesting because although the song was written a long time before the show was created, it was a perfect match for what we were trying to create with the show. While lyrically the song is quite bleak, during the live rendition of the track in the show the acrobats are coming together for an ‘around the fire’ moment, showing human connection during hard times is really important’