Premiere: Alicia Viani weeps for a disconnected existence with new song, ‘Lonesome for You’
The Oregon-based folk storyteller laments the state of a world and lack of real intimacy.
Ever feel so far away and yet so damn close? In the era of filtered Instagram posts and perfectly curated Twitter feeds, it’s difficult to wrangle how you feel – and more importantly, express it in a way that doesn’t feel disingenuous. Folk singer-songwriter Alicia Viani shoots from the hip with her delicate new tune called “Lonesome for You,” premiering today on B-Sides & Badlands. “My hand’s in your hand / My head’s on your shoulder / Breath on your neck / But I’m lonesome for you,” she curves her words through raw, intense intimacy that only feels sad, cold, and distant. “I’m lonesome for you / So lonesome for you / My hearts in a tangle / I need comfort from you.”
Out of Bend, Oregon, Viani rosins up her emotional bow through a simple, entrancing performance – one that falls as autumn leaves, resulting in faint, soft crunches under sneakers. “Lonesome for You” tip-toes across the heartstrings and submerges in what we’re all feeling these days: we might be connected more than ever, but we’re just as tired and lonely, ghosts with unfinished business and no way to get out. “Where do you go / When your heart is afraid / When the shadow of sorrow / Has hidden you away,” she peers into her companion’s weary eyes, pools of heartache and blackness that reflect only the same. The overwhelming melancholy swirls outward from Viani’s voice and erupts into gusting airstream.
On the song, Viani writes over email: “This was one of those songs that seemed to write itself. Some of them I strain to write and revise again and again. I put little thought into this one – it just flowed right out onto the paper,” she says. “I think I had that feeling of separation so viscerally in my body. I sat down on an airplane, picked up a pen, and described exactly what my experience was.”
“Lonesome for You,” sampling a self-titled debut album, produced by Amy Speace, rends the heart in two and re-centers a song’s ability to move and break you. “There seems to be a trend of moving away from vulnerable, simply stated, heart felt songs in the music world. Those were the days of Hank Williams or John Denver, and now, it’s cooler to be cryptic and touch authentic emotion through the ironic hipster lens,” she offers. “I fall for this myself and write a lot of vague songs about my internal condition. I like this song, because it’s a contrast to that. It describes being lonely and painfully separated even though in close physical proximity to someone in a frank form – which in itself, I believe, is connecting. In a world where there’s increasing separation, I’m interested in exploring connection through vulnerability in song.”
Viani’s new album is expected this spring.
Listen below:
