Today is not going as planned. It was supposed to be a day when I could catch up on the various jobs I work without having to devote a bunch of time to my day-job stuff, since Fridays in the summer here at the day job are typically super dead. It is not super dead today, and I’ve been grinding all morning without much time to work on anything else. I should be stressed and frustrated about this, but instead, I’m just feeling complacent. Like I will get through everything in due time. That’s not my normal MO. I’m a high-strung, stressed-out person when it comes to work, but when you have a soundtrack like “Garden-Variety Grief” from Anna Smyrk to soundtrack your day, it’s hard to be anything but cool, calm, and collected.
A track from Anna’s debut album, ‘Spectacular Denial,’ “Garden-Variety Grief is simple and, honestly, kind of hollow when it comes to the instrumentation, but there’s something ferociously energizing and powerful about this track. Maybe it’s Anna’s vocals. They are smooth and tender, like the way velvet may sound if it were a tone, not a fabric, but hidden in the waves of velvet are these sharp edges of metallic sequence. Why am I using fabric to describe this song? Honestly, I think it’s because of the coziness that comes over you when you listen to it. Anna’s warm voice wraps around you in a cozy blanket kind of way, and if you bury your head in it, you can let out all of those hidden emotions under the guise of beauty provided by this track. Basically, this song is intimate when it comes to the emotion that Anna lays out for you and, somehow, listening to this song will give you the confidence to get bare with it and to just let it all out.
Sick of me talking in vague and seemingly random ways? Here’s what Anna has to say about her background in music and this track in specific:
“The recording of two new live tracks was no exception. They were captured at an exclusive show at a secret location in her hometown of Melbourne, Australia. Audience members received the address a few hours before the doors opened, making their way through the gorgeous indoor garden at Bakehouse Studios before walking into a cozy space bedecked with bouquets of jasmine, where they received a free packet of flower seeds and were invited to browse at the book swap table.
“It was important to create a feeling of closeness at this show. It was my first time playing these songs live with the band and they’re really vulnerable tracks. I wanted to cultivate a space for feeling big feelings, both for me and for the audience.”
Those big feelings come through strongly in the live songs. Joy, pain, grief and catharsis all show up in turn as Anna and her band share two of the most powerful tracks from her recent album, Spectacular Denial, a collection of songs Anna wrote after her father’s passing.
“Garden-Variety Grief comes tearing out of the gates, this big, indie-rock track about resilience and hope. Having everyone get up out of their seats and start singing along was one of my very favourite live experiences.”
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