Since releasing her Let’s Play Pretend EP earlier this year, Manchester artists Abbie Ozard has been keeping busy. Not only has she now signed to the House Anxiety label, she has new material to share with the world in the form of the mournful, reflective “Grown.” Of the track Ozard says:
“I wrote ‘Grown’ back in 2017, 4 years ago, when I was coming out of a rough patch, and it helped me see the light and accept that things change, people change they grow, leave your life and meet new people, and that’s totally ok. I used to, and probably still do, have a hard time accepting that people come in and out of your life. I couldn’t comprehend that a person can be your best friend for years, and then suddenly become a total stranger. I found it really hard to get my head around.
“I hope it helps other people like it helped me, and I hope it helps you remember that you haven’t met half the people you’re going to love in your lifetime yet, because that to me is pretty cool and comforting. It’s the most important song that I’ve ever written to me, and will likely stay with me forever.”
The difficulty that Ozard speaks about in terms of finding the right time to release the song is heavy on the surface of “Grown”, where her voice is downcast and melancholic. Affected that little bit by what sounds like a vocoder, she sings like she’s writing an apology note to someone no longer in her life; “I’m sorry for the way I treated you / You know that wasn’t like me, don’t you?,” she begins. Even when the track bursts into a fuller arrangement (from the piano chords and warped guitar notes into blasts of white light synths and hurried drums) the sadness still washes off the arrangement, even though Ozard reckons with acceptance. “Everything has changed,” she remarks all too tellingly. Complete with a video that has Ozard singing in front of projected home movies, the elegiac tone seeps in all the more.
Check out the video for “Grown” below or listen via your preferred streaming site.
“Grown” is out now via House Anxiety. Stay up to date with Abbie Ozard via Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
