An alternative heartfelt confession of imperfection, love, and longing, Wy’s intimate anthem “Softie” will break you down and build you back up again.
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Can’t bring myself to say aloud that I love you, I just hope you know…
Wy’s intimate anthem “Softie” has only been out for two weeks, but it’s already a top contender for song of the year. An alternative heartfelt confession of imperfection, love, and longing, “Softie” connects to our emotional human core, because it comes out of an emotional human core. It’s painful, it’s honest, and it’s real: The kind of song that will break you down, only to build you back up again stronger than ever.
I just wanna tell you how I feel
But I don’t talk about my misery
To you, to no one
Don’t wanna drag you in
I just try to tell you how I deal
With all the shit I think
All the dark I see
And how I push through anyway
I do it all for you
I break my back for you
It’s all I wanna do
Atwood Magazine is proud to be premiering the beautiful music video for “Softie,” the incredibly catchy single and title track off Wy’s upcoming sophomore album, Softie (out 30th April via Beatnik [UK] and Hybris [RoW]). The Malmö, Sweden-based duo of “longtime lovers” Ebba Ågren and Michel Gustafsson, Wy sound like what we want alternative rock’s next iteration to sound like: As catchy as HAIM but with their own raw, dark and vulnerable flavor, the pair make music so mesmerizingly special that you have to hear it to believe it. They formed Wy in 2015 after playing in other bands together, releasing their debut EP Never Was in 2016 and their debut album Okay in 2018.
“Softie” follows the release of Wy’s lead single “Pavements” at the top of the year, and while the latter has its share of infectious excitement, “Softie” is the sort of track that will steal our hearts forevermore.
In featuring “Softie” on last week’s Editor’s Picks, I admitted to falling “head-over-heels” for the song and “its understated outpouring of conflicted energy.” Ebba Ågren sings her heart out in a profound assertion of vulnerability and desire, growing out of a faraway whisper in the verses to a close roar in the chorus. “Softie” is in so many ways an expression of an individual’s inner pain and self-doubt, and the hardship that goes alongside those personal experiences. Wy evoke a stirring mix of emotions through the pre-chorus’ beautiful poetry:
I feel like a shell of a person
Some new version of me
Something you didn’t think
I would be
This unearthing of the self flows right into the chorus’ confession, where Ågren surrenders to herself and stops holding back: Her voice is a soul-shaking cry, the lyrics aching gently against a bed of ethereal synths, glistening guitars, and pulsing drums:
Can’t act like I care
Can’t tell you enough
You’re enough
Can’t bring myself to say
aloud that I love you
I just hope you know…
In a recent press release, Wy described “Softie” as “a raw, spell-binding ode and apology to those on the receiving end of singer Ebba’s bouts of depression.”
“Being really down makes me a jerk to people,” Ågren says. “But if I’m being a jerk to you that probably means I love you very much. It’s very complicated.”
Most songs convey pain and other dark feelings in a palpable, but manageable manner – just like those television shows that portray awkward or intense moments in easy-to-watch formats. Other times, television can hit home in such a way that forces us viewers to bite our nails, hug a pillow, and even scream or throw things at the tv! “Softie” is that kind of song: A song whose pain transmits so powerfully through the performance that it hurts, in the best of ways, to experience Wy’s music.
I am tired of feeling in control
Being good and being pure
It’s overrated
Complicated
And I’m off my meds now
And I’m doing it again
And it’s getting harder acting like a friend
Wy’s “Softie” music video further elevates the weight of this intense listening experience. “For Softie, we wanted to make something fun and whimsical,” Ågren tells Atwood Magazine. “Something super pop. We made all the props ourselves and Michel and Lamia Karic did the filming.”
“The idea of the clown is very personal to me because I often think of myself as a clown. I’m constantly making a fool out of myself, sometimes on purpose, and I also wear a lot of clown-y clothes. I’ve kind of felt like a clown throughout a big part of my life, so I think me as a clown is a good representation of the album. A clown is someone who demands attention, and that’s what we wanted our new album to do.”
It’s more than being a fool; it’s more than demanding the spotlight. It’s about being broken, admitting that you’re broken, and still owning yourself and all your beautiful imperfections. No one – no one – isn’t “broken” somehow, and that’s what makes each of us special in our own way.
I just hope you know
I just hope it shows
I’m trying harder
I’m trying harder than before
I just hope you know
Thus in the video, as Ebba Ågren dances alone in her clown costume, we feel a sense of kinship to this simultaneously whimsical and bittersweet performance. She’s wearing her heart on her sleeve, exposing her demons for all to see, and living her best life in her own skin. There’s no holding back, no reservations, and no regrets. That’s what makes “Softie” such a great song, and that’s why this relatively simple video cuts so deep inside us.
Wy’s sophomore album Softie is out April 30, 2019. In the meantime, stream the inimitable “Softie” music video exclusively on Atwood Magazine!
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:: stream/purchase Softie here ::
Stream: “Softie” – Wy
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