Melanie MacLaren - “Bloodlust”
Photo by blaire beamer
Nashville, Tennessee-based singer-songwriter Melanie MacLaren has just released “Bloodlust,” the title track from her new EP.
“Bloodlust” opens with the raw and authentic strums of an acoustic guitar, slightly melancholic and settling itself into our introspective sweet spot. We’ve come to expect this chill and reflective vibe from most of MacLaren’s tunes, and, because of it, we always look forward to her submissions.
It does not take long for MacLaren to embark on her soul-stirring and intimate lyrical journey, delivering each word as though carefully plucked from the branches of grief, loss, and illness. And while this darker subject matter has the tendency to open some deep wounds of the spirit, it is nevertheless why our blog exists in the first place.
MacLaren has the divine gift of conjuring the vocal energy of artists such as Mitski, Haley Heynderickx, and Lucy Dacus, landing perfectly within our folksy wheelhouse. There’s a soft quiver in her vibrato that effortlessly draws us into the music, and the fact that a vintage-hued rhythm section arrives around the one-minute mark is just some additional icing on the proverbial cake.
Haunting and ethereal notes from the pedal steel light up the background of the sonic landscape like distant flames on the horizon. Subtle vocal layers decorate the second verse, with various elements added and removed to provide wonderful moments of ebb and flow, allowing the track to culminate in a gritty, guitar-saturated conclusion– “Bloodlust” gives you everything you need.
We’ve been following MacLaren since our blog’s inception and the release of “Bloodlust” lands her in our Hall of Fame, which is not the easiest feat, considering we can be quite snobby when it comes to the music that we feature. In any case, enjoy the track and feel free to delve a bit deeper into Bloodlust: