Hailing it as the year for her heartbreak bops, 2022 sees singer-songwriter Samantha Lloyd return with a flowery-fresh track for our breakup playlists – ‘Wither’.
Not unlike her previous releases ‘Waiting on Water’ and ‘Burning Light’ (both 2020), Lloyd once again weaves personal experience and emotion into her music – including both the ups and the downs of relationships. The latter in particular is where new single ‘Wither’ comes in.
Running at just over three-minutes in length, it blends a poppy danceable sound with some pretty candid lyricism as the artist reflects on wasting time with someone who just wouldn’t make the effort. Using imagery that evokes the idea of growth (or lack thereof) there’s reference to planting seeds, not to mention a colourful accompanying music video in which Samantha ‘grows’ her very own boyfriend.
But as much as there may be a tongue-in-cheek element to this single, the real emotion and pain are there too. Just one look at the song title and lyrics – there’s no denying this could’ve been a wistful ballad of sorts, but by choosing to fuse peppy drum machine percussion with a funky beat – the artist turns this into a blossoming cathartic release.
Lloyd’s vocal delivery comes through soulful in the verses before switching up to a more dance-pop attitude as she hits the catchy chorus bringing to mind that late 90s/early 00s pop sound akin to acts like All Saints, Sophie Ellis-Bextor and even Billie Piper.
“You planted seeds in my mind / Expected me to sit and wither / So don’t go wasting my time / There’s other things you don’t consider”
‘Wither’ is synthy, ethereal and soulful (plus the addition of a ghostly flourish of piano keys in the background gives this single a great touch of melancholy). Breakup pop never sounded so good.