When we covered Pisgah’s previous release ‘Favor’, we talked about her gift for writing songs that feel like they’re carved straight out of lived experience. Now, she’s maintaining that precedent with another weathered, tender and quietly devastating single, ‘Bend to Break’. Here, the songwriter leans even further into her emotional sincerity through an intimate, almost handmade, quality that pervades every part of this song.
Recorded in her home studio, with mixing and mastering from Austin-based producer Dan Duszynski, this track swells with a softly cinematic atmosphere as Pisgah unravels her hushed confessional narrative. Even though it’s not outwardly triumphant, there’s something empowering about ‘Bend to Break’, which centres on the revelation that you’ve been living as the side character in someone else’s story. While “main character energy” has some mixed connotations these days, it’s still important to remember that only you can fully possess your own life. As Pisgah so elegantly sings, “how light the leaving feels,” as she arrives to that moment of clarity.
Sonically, this track stretches from the down-to-earth americana of her Southern US upbringing to the cathartic alt-rock drawn from her London surroundings. Jangling guitars rally up against stormy percussion, replicating the tectonic shift of perspective as your world takes a new shape almost in an instant. In contrast to the thunderous potential, Pisgah‘s affectionate vocals bring a sense of calm; a poignant reminder that this is how it’s supposed to be.
‘Bend to Break’ is another impressive installment of Pisgah‘s forthcoming album Faultlines, due out 4th December this year.
You can also listen to ‘Bend to Break’ in our Shades of Pop playlist.
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