“How in the world can we go on?”: Trauma, Grief, & the Raw Ache of Linn Koch-Emmery’s “Ebay Armour”

Linn Koch-Emmery © Rory Cole
Linn Koch-Emmery © Rory Cole
A gut-wrenching song of love and letting go, Linn Koch-Emmery’s cathartic and all-consuming “Ebay Armour” hits hard and leaves a lasting mark as the Swedish indie rock artist aches from the inside out, grappling with a loved one’s grief and trauma.
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Stream: “Ebay Armour” – Linn Koch-Emmery




Every thought is a waterfall, everything is spiraling down…

There’s never a moment, throughout Linn Koch-Emmery’s latest single, where her voice doesn’t ache.

And for good reason: Sometimes love means letting go, but actually letting go – and knowing when to do that – is far easier said than done. We want to be there for the ones we love; as a shoulder to cry on, a person to lean on – a source of comfort, support, connection, and relief. But sometimes what people really need the most is space, and “Ebay Armour” sees Koch-Emmery reckoning with that painful realization in real time. A gut-wrenching song of love and letting go, “Ebay Armour” hits hard and leaves a lasting mark as Koch-Emmery accepts the need for her to leave; to step away from someone she cares about, so that they can become the best possible version of themselves.

How in the world can we go on?” she asks in a heated, heavy-hearted chorus.

How in the world, indeed.

Ebay Armour - Linn Koch-Emmery
Ebay Armour – Linn Koch-Emmery
“Did your best”
Won’t save you now
Or Ebay armour
I need the end
Just get me out, of this stuff
Do you wanna sleep
Or stay in touch?
Because it gets a little weird
Here in the gap

Released January 18, 2024, “Ebay Armour” is catchy, cathartic, and all-consuming. Linn Koch-Emmery’s first single in over a year marks the Swedish Grammy-nominated artist’s return to the spotlight, arriving alongside the announcement of her upcoming sophomore album Borderline Iconic, out this May. Produced by Pete Robertson of The Vaccines, Borderline Iconic is the highly-anticipated follow-up to 2021’s debut album Being the Girl, a shiver-inducing debut that deserved all the acclaim it received upon its release.

Linn Koch-Emmery © Rory Cole
Linn Koch-Emmery © Rory Cole



“Ebay Armour” finds Linn Koch-Emmery continuing to dive deep within herself to pull out the most visceral, heartrending indie rock music imaginable.

The singer/songwriter is breathtakingly vulnerable and emotionally charged as she laments a hopeless situation where, no matter what, everyone bears a loss. “‘Did your best’ won’t save you now, or Ebay armour,” she sings tenderly and emphatically at the song’s start, her aching voice hot on the mic as she addresses her subject head-on. “I need the end, just get me out, of this stuff.”

She rises to a impassioned, resounding fever pitch in the chorus, the weight of the world falling out of her one word at a time as she spills her burning soul:

Every thought is a waterfall
Everything is spiraling down
It’s not in the words or the substance you use
Or the things you’re figuring out
How in the world can we go on
How in the world can we go on
How in the world can we go on
How in the world can we go on
Linn Koch-Emmery © Rory Cole
Linn Koch-Emmery © Rory Cole



“Trauma and grief is illogical,” Koch-Emmery tells Atwood Magazine. “Sometimes we cope with it through substances, others do it by buying weird stuff off the Internet, like a life-sized armour.”

“This song is about a person close to me that I never could seem to figure out, and the pain and frustration that comes with trying. ‘Ebay Armour’ was the first song we recorded off the new record, and most of it was made in producer Pete Robertson’s attic in his house in Somerset.”

And in your drafts, words of gold
Singled out and up the shelf
Books of help you never got
Maybe if the past could just shut up
Then I could be my best, or good enough?
Every thought is a waterfall
Everything is spiraling down
It’s not in the words or the substance you use
Or the things you’re figuring out
How in the world can we go on
How in the world can we go on
How in the world can we go on
How in the world can we go on
Linn Koch-Emmery © Rory Cole
Linn Koch-Emmery © Rory Cole



Maybe if the past could just shut up, then I could be my best, or good enough?

Koch-Emmery characterizes her songs as “sharp indie rock rollercoasters,” and that vivid description certainly holds true on “Ebay Armour” as the Swedish artist unapologetically cuts to the core of what it means to untether yourself from someone you still care about; to let go of someone you love.

Get lost in the raw, unrelenting ache of “Ebay Armour,” and stay tuned for more feverish tunes to come as Linn Koch-Emmery teases out her sophomore album. Borderline Iconic is set to release this May!

Every thought is a waterfall
Everything is spiraling down
It’s not in the words or the substance you use
Or the things you’re figuring out
How in the world can we go on
How in the world can we go on
How in the world can we go on
How in the world can we go on

— —

:: stream/purchase Ebay Armour here ::
:: connect with Linn Koch-Emmery here ::
Stream: “Ebay Armour” – Linn Koch-Emmery



— — — —

Ebay Armour - Linn Koch-Emmery

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? © Rory Cole


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