Wisp’s third single “Once then we’ll be free” is intimate, intoxicating, and inescapable: A fever dream of shiver-inducing shoegaze that stirs the soul, soaking the body in a thick and heavy sound.
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Stream: “Once then we’ll be free” – Wisp
But now I stare, stare into emptiness turned to miss…
An ache and a pulse; a visceral, unrelenting push and pull. “Once then we’ll be free” is intimate, intoxicating, and inescapable: A fever dream of shiver-inducing shoegaze that stirs the soul, soaking the body in a thick and heavy sound.
We often associate wisps with the fleeting and ethereal – thin bursts of smoke, small, disposable toothbrushes, etc. – but this Wisp hits hard and leaves an everlasting impression. The San Francisco-based newcomer delivers a breathtaking deluge of emotionally-charged music in “Once then we’ll be free,” her cathartic and all-consuming third career single.
live in time, time when we
we had made, made at sea
but now i stare, stare into
emptiness, turned to miss
I’ll find you in these waters
so reach your arm out to me
I promise it’ll end soon
once then we’ll be free
Released Halloween 2023 via Music Soup / Interscope Records, “Once then we’ll be free” is the kind of song that can swallow you whole, if you let it. Following 2023’s previous two singles “Tangled dreams” and “Your face” – the latter of which went viral this summer, and has since amassed a jaw-dropping 32 million Spotify streams – “Once then we’ll be free” is an intensely immersive display of Wisp’s burgeoning talents.
Fiery electric guitar riffs churn all around and heavy drums lay a sweaty beat as the San Francisco-based 19-year-old balances on the fringes of tenderness and turbulence. Her soft, seductive, whispery voice is a beacon of both light and longing in the darkness as she sings a message of devotion, empathy, and encouragement to her partner.
promise me, me and you
you will be, be here soon
but now I stare, stare into
emptiness, turned to miss
“The story behind the song is sticking with someone you love when they’re going through a rough patch in life,” Wisp tells Atwood Magazine. “Like an all or nothing situation. I wrote it in the perspective of telling your partner you believe in them, and with time you guys can both live happily together!”
I’ll find you in these waters
so reach your arm out to me
I promise it’ll end soon
once then we’ll be free
For someone drowning in their lowest depths, nothing compares to a metaphorical (or literal) outstretched hand like the one Wisp offers in song. This is so much more than a “get well soon” card; her lyrics are a gut-wrenching, heart-on-sleeve eruption wrapped in lush layers of love, patience, and understanding. “Stay with me, in my arms, stay with me, ’til we’re free,” she sings in the track’s final moments, continuing to reassure her partner that she’s there for them – in it for the long haul, and with them for good, through thick and thin. “Stay with me in my arms, stay with me by my side.“
Wisp’s warm haze of radiant guitars, bustling bass, and thunderous drums is overwhelming and utterly intoxicating; meanwhile, her vocal performance soothes our wary souls.
“Once then we’ll be free” is a startling, soul-stirring dichotomy – a beautiful “emotional rollercoaster of love and loyalty,” as Wisp calls it – and what we’re left with, ultimately, is not the exhaustion of energy often felt by other shoegaze acts, but rather, a sense of discovery, possibility, and intimate connection. This is one catchy, cathartic fever dream we can happily listen to on repeat all day long: An achingly vulnerable upheaval of life and love that hits hard and leaves us hungry for more.
Wisp is without a doubt one of 2024’s artists to watch; while we’re absolutely in love with her first three songs, we cannot wait to hear where she goes next. Considering she’s signed to Interscope – one of the biggest labels in the world – we can expect big things to come from Wisp over the year ahead.
stay with me, in my arms
stay with me, ’til we’re free
stay with me, in my arms
stay with me by my side
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Stream: “Once then we’ll be free” – Wisp
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