An all-too perfect summation of how many of us feel in this very moment (and the past year’s worth of moments), Jen Rim’s debut single “Hanging On” is a heartfelt and moving record of unfiltered intimate emotion and raw inner reckoning.
Stream: “Hanging On” – Jen Rim
An all-too perfect summation of how many of us feel in this very moment (and the past year’s worth of moments), Jen Rim’s debut single is a heartfelt and moving record of unfiltered intimate emotion and raw inner reckoning. Stirring and serene, the vivid “Hanging On” is a powerful, deeply expressive outpouring of restlessness and passion channeled through beautiful music full of depth, color, and gorgeous harmony.
It’s not easy to figure out the time
I’ve been fighting off this feeling
Fumbling with words, cutting silence
Trading for a noise to feel alive
On the other side
Always on the run
Going for too long
I’m barely hanging on
Waiting for too long, is it worth it?
Had enough to give myself the time to breathe
Sinking into fear til’ I’m quiet
But I’m choking from the lies I built inside
Atwood Magazine is proud to be premiering “Hanging On,” Jen Rim’s debut single (co-written and co-produced by Boaz Roberts). A Los Angeles-based Korean-American singer and songwriter, Rim is perhaps best known as a former backing member of Run River North; together with the band since their early “Monsters Calling Home” days, she parted ways with them in 2018 and has since worked on her own artistry.
Rim’s first release of her solo career is an organic, delicate yet strong self-expression. Ethereal guitars and muted pianos create a moving backdrop that ebbs and flows with its own weight, and it is off this pool of sound that Rim sings full of haunting, hypnotic verve.
On the other side
Always on the run
Going for too long
I’m barely hanging on
Looking for the sun
Pointing you to see
I dread myself to sleep
Would you take me home?
Melancholy and hope shine at once as “Hanging On” envelops the senses. “The world has been affected so tragically by the pandemic, the constant negative news downpour, and the AAPI movement – and that’s all had such a huge part to these songs,” Rim tells Atwood Magazine. “It felt like the time was so necessary for me to learn how to find my voice and share it. What if I chose hope, the opposite of what felt like doing?”
When Rim sings “Sinking into fear til’ I’m quiet, but I’m choking from the lies I built inside,” she is both observing herself while also trying to offer a healthier path and perhaps make a different choice. Yet for her, “Hanging On” doesn’t make judgments, deciding what is or isn’t the right decision; it’s about capturing the pivotal points.
“The title is exemplary of some days when you’re barely hanging on to the end of the rope, and some days you’re more confident than others,” she says. “Whatever it looks like, that moment is so crucial to me because it leads you to the next step.”
Sometimes we’ll choose poorly; sometimes we’ll choose well. No matter what, we live with those decisions and all their consequences and ramifications. Stream Jen Rim’s “Hanging On” exclusively on Atwood Magazine, and stay tuned for more to come from this exciting, seasoned newcomer!
Someday it’ll carry on
As you’re looking for someone to love
It could only change from the day you start
No more holding what’s left
When you look back now
But you can’t go far
So carry on
Slowly letting go
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:: stream/purchase hanging on here ::
Stream: “Hanging On” – Jen Rim
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