Serena Ryder - Told You In A Whisper Song

Genre rock Publisher Atlantic Records External Links Official Serena Ryder Website Official Atlantic Records

Serena Ryder cements her reputation as a wise-beyond-her-years singer/songwriter in her release, Told You In a Whispered Song. Her sometimes tremulous voice conveys a willingness to be open in way that's refreshing, even to the jaded listener. Her vocal ability to transition effortlessly from the delicate to a powerful, Melissa Etheridge-style belt out is undeniable. This combination accentuates the bravery required to be so emotionally exposed, and the authenticity and lucidity that she brings to each song wards off any sense of preciousness.

"Told You in a Whisper Voice" exposes a truth that long had been obscured, and a weariness in maintaining such a facade: "Told so many lies that I believed/ Oh I am a happy woman/ Come on and lie on me." Where in less capable hands this may come off as simple double entendre, Ryder integrates the elements of happiness and fraudulence to a level of satisfying ambiguity.

"Hiding Place" picks up after the fallacies are divulged, and makes inroads towards seeking the truth. Ryder displays fearless vulnerability, asking a question that, given the overt sexuality that saturates the media, seems all the more daring and intimate: simply "would you let me touch your face?" The object of this request, and the listener, are then called to more closely examine their own reticence to connect, noting "you're always watching and waiting/ while everyone else's heart is breaking." It articulately expresses the things we sometimes either can't find words for or are afraid to say.

"Brand New Love" further works to cop to the obfuscation so often intertwined with intimacy. It reveals the games that are played to make hitches in relationships more palatable, and seeks to find a more honest understanding. "I can't take your breath away/ But I'll show you a brand new way, a brand new love" demarcates a new starting point, in the same vein as "The First Cut is the Deepest."

"Weak in the Knees" confesses to feigning strength and reveals hidden frailty, admitting "Would you mind if I pretended I was someone else/ With courage in love and war?/ I used to think that's what I was/ But now this lying hurts too much" The title takes a cliché and carries the metaphor out to a more fully developed and apt analogy: "Weak in the knees for you, but I'll stand if you want me to/ My legs are strong, I'll move on."

"Blown Like the Wind at Night" could be seen as exploration of both world events and of an interpersonal relationship. As the closing song of an album that examines the politics of romantic love, the duality is appropriate. "Let's get drunk and let's pretend we are not slaves to anything/ Or anyone who tells us how to be" acknowledges the truth by admitting what it is that we pretend.

Music, at its best, is a combination of rhythm and meaning that not only bring out the essential and divergent aspects of each other, but it also is a combination that articulates a commonality among people. It flips a primal switch inside and moves us, both physically and emotionally, and it provides a conduit for empathy and understanding between people. It is these marks that Told You In a Whispered Song hits with precision and with heart.