Dating a musician must be an interesting proposition. It brings all the same challenges of any modern relationship along with its unique wrinkles and if/when it ends—you may end up immortalized in song. Adyn Townes brings us four new songs that are bound to make past lovers’ ears burn.
2018’s After the Fall, Townes’s first release under his new stage name, found the Fredericton native reflecting on his life after the accident that almost ended it. The follow-up EP, In Frame 1A, continues the singer’s journey of exploration through the oft-uncertain battlefield of attraction, affection, and the afflictions associated with affairs of the heart.
Townes’ finale to After the Fall lamented that he was “sick and tired of writing sad love songs” (“Sad Songs”), but when you are this talented at mixing sorrow and regrets with hope, we don’t mind that he seems to have relented on any resolution to that effect.
In Frame 1A opens up with “Kids”, reflecting on the transgressions of youth in a soft, forgiving tone absolving all involved parties: “Kids, we didn’t mean it. We didn’t know what we did.”
Townes spends “Leave It Alone” struggling with a seemingly endless string of questions that will not grant his mind ease. The song presents very a powerful metaphor for a doomed/failed relationship’s trajectory: “Why do mountains melt into meadows…Why do alleys turn into volcanos?”
These questions may keep Adyn up at night but the lessons learned from those sometimes-explosive ends may be just what we need to propel us onward.
“What They Were Going On About” brings the collection to its finale in a somewhat unexpected manner – an Adyn Townes dance number of sorts. It’s a much more upbeat celebration of the abrupt epiphany and grateful awareness gained through finding what you had been looking for. With Townes singing, “The harder that I tried, the more I had to wait,” the song is borderline joyful and is a very fine end to this abridged chapter.
In Frame 1A is the first installment in a series of EPs that will culminate in the release of Adyn Townes’ full sophomore album, In Frames. The album is slated to be released in February 2021. In the meantime, let’s all send good vibes to Townes’ current squeeze and see where this journey takes us.