Last month Norway’s Louien announced her new EP with the superb “Better Woman”, and today she gives us another taste of what’s to come on No Tomorrow with the new single “Deep Within”. This time she’s not spinning a fictional tale, but a personal one, as she explains:
“Deep Within’ is about when a change is coming, when you feel the fibres of your body change. When you’ve worked so hard to feel better and do better, and you can feel how it pays off.”
There’s a commonly repeated theory that it’s much easier to write songs about sad feelings than happy ones, so to hear Louien turn her hard work into something that truly sparkles with positivity is quite wonderful – especially on a Wednesday. “Deep within me something is rising / From the ashes of the old,” she begins, her voice rising delicately, like a daisy springing from the very ashes of her old self she describes, stretching for the sunlight. In the chorus she’s joined on harmonies and lap steel, as she repeats an intriguing metaphor: “that’s how the bullet got stuck in the barrel.” So close to describing something truly horrific, instead the radiance of her spirit and musicality transforms it into a moment of triumph, and the sheer levity of the mellifluous chorus makes it something that you’ll replay whenever you feel the need to remind yourself that life is long – you can change anything.
Louien’s No Tomorrow EP arrives on June 4 via Jansen Records. You can find her on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
