The Singles Bar: Illyin Pipes, ‘Daylight Confidant’

Welcome to The Singles Bar, a review series focused on new single and song releases.

Jill Harris was broken. Her mind frazzled, and she could barely hear her own garbled cries amidst the drowning flood waters. But a dear friend “was falling apart,” as she remembers, so she turned her attention to comforting them one “blurry night.” Harris, who fronts the Toronto alt-pop outfit Illyin Pipes, alongside bandmate Thom Varey, put pen to paper to loosen the rusted, imperious emotional chains. That was how “Daylight Confidant” was born ⎯⎯ out of necessity and before her spiritual wellbeing was lost forever, fated to float aimlessly through the scintillating synths and cumbersome ringing of drums. “I think I lost it in your kitchen / On the floor now, I can’t listen, I can’t listen,” she casts off a plea, shaking her own demons, who were in the throes of vanquishing her mental state.

Harris carries the weight of the world in her voice, feathery but magnificently imposing. “Yeah, I’m hurting,” she sobs through synth waves, establishing herself as the flawed protagonist, who should probably take a time out but dares to save someone else instead. The ’80s-implimented production is muted but icy and sits nicely on the tongue, and while the band is not necessarily breaking down barriers here, the end result is quite rewarding.

“Daylight Confidant” comes on the heels of their equally-enchanting, swirling-electronica debut single “Waking Up.” Illyin Pipes’ debut EP, Spaces, is set for an early 2018 drop.

Grade: 3 out of 5

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