Track Review: Shrink // Harpa
Smashing, stunning, ridiculously good – these are just some words critics use to describe Harpa. Along with Less Than 1,000 Followers, TJPL News, Mesmerized and It’s All Indie, we at Nexus Music Blog have also been enchanted with this singer-songwriter’s music. Not to say we’re totally biased because she’s super-cool; just that we know what fascinating sounds Harpa has up her sleeve. The latest addition to her discography is the single ‘Shrink’.
Following her well-received EP Growing Pains, the UK-based musician touches on societal expectations and female empowerment in ‘Shrink’. Touching on failing love lives and how women generally alter their personalities and reject individuality to find love, ‘Shrink’ is a complex and profound single. It captures the core of the need for acceptance, tears it open and rips it apart…or at least, it pulls the detrimental disastrous sh** we deal with out of that dismal wrapper.
“’You’re too intimidating’ – words I hear over and over when lamenting my failing love life. I used to accept this statement blindly, it kind of made sense. Men liked quieter, more “agreeable” girls, didn’t they? Over the years I found myself trying to be less loud, thinner, less outspoken, less demanding, less of myself in order to find a man to love me. But then I began to question why men leant toward these kinds of traits. It made us easier for them to control…’Shrink’ encapsulates everything I’ve felt obligated to be in order to be more agreeable to men and, at the same time, it’s a big ‘f*** that!’” – Harpa on ‘Shrink’
One element I find intriguing about the melody for ‘Shrink’ is not how it captures the depth of this intricate theme but rather the blending of different sounds to encapsulate the emotion felt by Harpa. Drifting from a soft piano-driven ballad to hard-hitting rock-inspired guitars and back again, ‘Shrink’ points out the frustration, confusion, defiance, and aggression in one five-minute melody.
The melody is complicated but simplistic in a sense and it holds its own; however, it is Harpa’s vocals that introduce a person to the therapy session. Oozing vulnerability and fragility, she touches us with her sincere questioning of “being more agreeable”. Yet, the music hits the window as confidence grows and her delicate vocals quickly become resilient, empowering and full of attitude.
This artist was found on Musosoup #sustainablecurator