Track Review: Drive Away // Karen Harding

Known for her emotional folk meets pop music, Australian singer-songwriter Karen Harding is captivating fans with her sound. Oozing vulnerability, but with a sense of hopeful optimism in the melodies, this talented songstress holds your heart in the palm of her hands whenever she sings. Featured several times on Nexus Music Blog, it’s clear we’re fans; however, her praise is also being sung by The Other Side Reviews, Sinusoidal Music, Send Me Your Ears, Edgar Allan Poets and Roadie Music (to name a few). The latest addition to her discography is the single ‘Drive Away’.

Releasing one single per month to build up her debut EP I’ve Got A Secret, Karen Harding keeps us in constant anticipation of her next release. ‘Drive Away’ follows ‘Til The Ocean Meets The Shore’ and ‘I’ve Got A Secret’ – both singles that capture her intriguing indie-folk sound. Yet, it is ‘Drive Away’ that pulls ahead with its haunting vocals atop a heart-breaking melody. Combining strings with her traditional acoustic guitar and silky voice, ‘Drive Away’ enhances the spine-chilling quality often associated with Karen Harding.

As I said, Karen invokes spine-chilling vibes within an indie-folk sound; however, there appears to be a more ethereal dreaminess to ‘Drive Away’ exceeding the spine-chilling-ness. In fact, I became utterly transfixed when listening to the song; the clear vocals seemed to drift away on a foggy sonic river. It was creepy but also soul-stirring in a good way.

Describing music as soul conversations where “the masks that we hide behind slip away”, Karen Harding connects on an intensely intimate level. She explains that ‘Drive Away’ is about escapism and the possibility of leaving everything behind – “it is so easy to get caught up in the busy-ness and routines of life and sometimes we all experience days where it just seems so much easier to run away or escape the life we’ve created for ourselves…’Drive Away’ was written when I was experiencing this feeling.”