Eaves Wilder is a London-based 16-year-old who has just put out her debut single “Won’t You Be Happy”. It was written on the first day of lockdown in the UK, as she explains:
“I am 16 years old. This is what my songs are about: being 16. I wrote ‘Won’t You Be Happy’ on the first day of UK lockdown, to cheer myself up. It feels like everything moves so quickly when you’re a teenager, and then for everything to grind to a halt is really frustrating. It feels like time has been moving very, VERY slowly, you don’t know what to do with yourself. The melody just came into my head. I wanted it to be happy, simplistic and feelgood, because that was what was lifting my mood at a time when it felt like the world was ending. I wanted it to come out as soon as possible because it’s about now, and when this is all over, we’ll never want to think about lockdown again.”
All of the effusive emotion is seeped into “Won’t You Be Happy”, which starts as a slow-washed daydream, like staring through the window at the unattainable outdoors. “I want to go outdoors,” Eaves plaintively sings, and then the song blasts off into a fuzz rock gem, mirroring the frustration we’ve all been feeling in the last few months. While it’s coming from a youthful perspective, “Won’t You Be Happy” taps into the simple pleasures that people of all ages desire – warmth, fun, freedom – and delivers them in such a simple but deliberate manner that her voice could be all of our voices.
Listen to “Won’t You Be Happy” below or on your preferred streaming platform.
“Won’t You Be Happy” is out via Little Cousin Records. You can follow Eaves Wilder on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.
