Artists You Should Know: Olivia Reid Reconciles Joy And Grief On New Single “Central Park West”

New York City artist Olivia Reid has shared a lush new single with the release of the mournfully retrospective “Central Park West.” It arrives as the third new song they’ve shared this year, following previous offerings “Wounds (Healing)” and “Runner’s High,” songs that continue to expand the sonorously spacious acoustics she introduced herself with on the 2021 debut EP Earth Water.

Like those previous singles “Central Park West” floats ethereally amidst a clamorously melodic collection of instrumentals that nurture this budding emotion right there alongside Reid’s delicate vocals. One that splits the difference between the baroque pop extravagance of Florence & the Machine and the measured atmospherics of Bon Iver. But there’s also a voracious intimacy that engulfs you in its lilting medley as she guides you through a series of intricately intertwined memories that seek to articulate such lovelorn grief.

For Reid, the song serves as an attempt to coalesce all the things she wanted to hold onto after the death of two important people in her life: her Uncle Chris and Aunt Stevie. Against the soothing lull of strings and glowing tones, she conjures up the moments that radiate with their memory, emblazoning them in her gentle but honest expressions of sadness and joy.

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“This a song for anyone mourning the loss of someone or something, where the mix of joyful memories coexists with grief,” Reid said on Instagram. “They both battled heaviness, in health and hardship, and it’s been hard to let them go. But this song is my lasting memory of them, standing by the pond in Central Park, warm and smiling, always.”