Track of the Week: Flowers For The Dead // Brie Spaulding
Her career may have been stunted by the Covid-19 pandemic, but this little firecracker isn’t holding back. Hailing from Chicago, US-based Brie Spaulding is a singer-songwriter with a hypnotic voice. Featured on Zero Music Magazine, The Other Side Reviews, Elite Press and YMX, Brie is making waves across the globe – despite having only one song to her name. May we introduce the talented Brie to you with ‘Flowers For The Dead’.
Recorded and produced by Brie in her home studio, ‘Flowers For The Dead’ is beautiful in its simplicity. Primarily an acoustic piano-led single, but with synth undertones, the track is haunting from the outset. Slightly reminiscent of Tom Odell’s style, Brie embraces the melancholy of the piano. The basic instrumentation not only endears us to her heartbreaking vocals but adds a gut-wrenching quality with the simple chord progressions.
One could construe ‘Flowers For The Dead’ to be a ballad about heartache, but there is an emptiness that reaches deeper into one’s soul. The single stems from “a depressive episode” and the harmonic melody enhance the pain of being alone. Desperation is not only conveyed by Brie’s vocals, but the sparsity of instrumentation delves you into a mire of despair.
Reminiscent of Amy Lee, Brie’s tender vocals have an otherworldly quality. Eloquently executing poetic lyricism, Brie shows her wide vocal range and depth of content. With an elegant wave of the hand, she exposes the fragility of the human spirit in an ethereal cloud. What I love is the inclusion of deep synth bass to not only emphasise the elegance of the content but also compound the hopelessness.