Track by Track sees artists guide readers through each song on their newest release. Today, rising indie rockers Sour Widows break down their dazzling debut album, Revival of a Friend.
Listening to Sour Widows’ debut album, Revival of a Friend, it’s immediately apparent just how cathartic the songs are for the band. Mournful melodies, building dynamics, and guitar licks that somehow communicate extremely specific emotions combine for a listen that, even without context, carries the feeling of the sun finally peaking out from behind miles and miles of clouds.
But then, of course, there is the context, the lived experiences of songwriters Susanna Thomson and Maia Sinaiko that informed the work.
“When we started playing together again that fall after being on hiatus for several months because of my mom’s illness, I was feeling easily overwhelmed by most things, and playing and writing were very difficult,” Thomson tells Consequence. “Monumental loss creates a very clear divide between those in your life who can understand the depth of that kind of pain and those who can’t.”
The 10 tracks of Revival of a Friend exist deep within that indescribable pain; it’s a remarkable product of hardship, loss, and all of the confusion that comes with such experiences. Among other tragedies the band faced leading up to the record, Thomson’s mother passed from a rare form of cancer, and Sinaiko lost their partner to an accidental overdose. It was, understandably, an incredibly difficult period, one that they can only look back at with a melancholic, knowing chuckle, wondering how they kept pushing on.
But push on they did, and to wondrous, honest results.
“All I could do was make music alone in my room. Day to day life was constant cycling through memories of places, feelings, and experiences of which I was now the sole keeper,” Sinaiko explains. “The endlessness of grief supersedes the normal passage of time, and the people we lose remain in places we can never go back to. It’s magic and terrible all at once. That paradox is crucial to this album thematically and sonically. You need to show the light and the dark together to see the full scope of our music.”
Ultimately, Revival of a Friend is a powerfully bold statement for a band to make their introduction with, one that asks listeners to fully feel the paradox of grief. What a way to say hello.
Stream Sour Widows’ Revival of a Friend below, and read on for Susanna Thomson and Maia Sinaiko’s Track by Track breakdown.