Brooklyn-based Shalom has shared the final single to come before the release of their debut album Sublimation, releasing the melancholic indie-rock track “Lighter” alongside a lyric video animated by Rory Alene. It’s the third song to be released as a preview of the new record from the Maryland-born but South African-raised artist. Following previous singles “Happenstance” and “Soccer Mommy,” the album serves as a poignant reflection on her move to Brooklyn and attempts to reconcile her feeling like a fish out of water.
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In “Lighter,” she pines over a desire to be someone and somewhere else. “So done with being myself,” she drones over crisscrossing riffs that glow drearily against the song’s melody. “How many days until I tire of walking down the same street?” The fatigue seeps into your bones with every listen and it becomes increasingly clear Shalom has a knack for making the intimately introspective quite piercingly understood.
And when it’s delivered on the back of her melodically gloomy indie-rock it’s all the more potent. With every twanging riff and heady percussion line echoing all the heft required of Shalom to voice her innermost confessions. While its driving energy maintains a steady undercurrent of life that’s hard to shake — the veritable pulse of her music and a reminder that even at her most bleak she’s still sagaciously aware of her own anxieties and insecurities.
The lyric video adds no small amount of sentimental sheen to “Lighter,” as the animated video from Alene illustrates Shalom as walking through her college town in New Jersey. Against a bright yellow background that seems to contradict the song’s sad musings, she strolls along in blue-toned clothing like a glum spot of color on the sunny background. But as the video continues and day turns to night, the colors start to reflect her purple-blue hues, before returning back to that blindingly yellow chromatic.
“This song is one of my favorite things I’ve ever made. I wrote it in 45 minutes and sent it to Ryan (Hemsworth), he sent it back with the guitars, and I fell in love with myself by making a song about wanting to be someone else.”
Last year was just as prolific for Shalom, who released a string of singles that have showcased all the ways she’s one of the more exciting indie-rock acts to emerge in recent years. From her love of pairing riveting rock anthemics with her raw lyricism, as on singles “DTAP” and “True Love.”
Sublimation the new album from Shalom is out Mar. 10 pre-order it here.
Visit Shalom on their website, Twitter, and Instagram to stay updated on new releases and tour announcements.
Words: Steven Ward
Listen to “Lighter” the new single from Shalom below!
