Single Of The Week: Indigo De Souza – Kill Me review

by Craig Howieson

It’s no stretch to say that we are all a little messed up in our own way. We view the world through our own uniquely cracked lens, and strive for and submit to a set of expectations that of course makes seamless interaction with the world at large a difficult proposition. Kill Me, the latest offering from Indigo De Souza – and lead single from her forthcoming Saddle Creek release, Any Shape You Takeprovides a glimpse back into her world and the fraught despondency that comes from hanging on to something (or someone) we maybe shouldn’t. 

Following on from her debut I Love My Mom, which received its own reissue on Saddle Creek earlier this month, Kill Me loses none of the immediacy of her songwriting, but doubles down on the intensity. Beginning in the eye of the storm, a gentle electric guitar and De Souza’s free roaming vocal line do little to warn of the imminent cyclone of grunge to come. And the track continues in this vein with brief moments of sweetness and melodious bass lines disintegrating into monuments of guitar – picture a Pixies for millennials and you are getting close. 

It is as if you have capsized in the storm and are only just managing a rescuing breath of air before the next wave hits – with each one bigger than the last. By the outro, it seems obscene that De Souza can build the track more, but she does, and it is at this point you realise that, in fact, you are not drowning, but all that baggage and negativity you have been holding onto is being washed away.

Kill Me sounds like a mere taste of what is to come from De Souza, which makes the fact that at one point – hidden among layers of distortion – she sings ‘no one’s hearing what I’m saying’ all the more endearing. There will be plenty of people listening now.

Any Shape You Take is out through Saddle Creek on 27th August.

If you’d like to support us by subscribing to our zine, click here – it’s just £6 a year for four copies (inc p&p).

 

Want to keep up to date with all our latest pieces? Follow us on social media…