Hello everyone, and welcome back to another blog post! I apologize for not posting in a while, but it is for a good reason. I have an interview with Victoria Bigelow! So be on the lookout for that! Today I will be writing about her background and a song review, as usual. I first discovered Victoria on my Spotify Discover Weekly playlist. I immediately knew I wanted to write about Victoria's music. Her vocals remind me of Lana Del Rey or Leigh Nash from Sixpence None The Richer, but Victoria stands apart from them because she has more of a folk vibe in her music. Victoria was born and raised in Marietta, Georgia. At age 12, Victoria started writing songs with a cheap guitar her mom bought her. Victoria and her parents would go back and forth to Nashville to write and perform. Eventually, her family moved to Nashville when Victoria was 15. It didn't take long for the music industry to take notice of Victoria's talent. She worked hard on building her catalog and writing songs for TV. Victoria has worked with highly successful people like Grammy Award winner for producer/engineer David Leonard. After recording, Victoria was set to go on tour when she found out she was pregnant with her son Elliot. In the following year, Victoria released her first single, Low, in 2018 and an EP, Going Blue, in 2019. In 2020 Victoria released two more EPs called, OurVinyl Sessions and To Everyone I've Loved Before. She also released a single called, The Cure. Later, in 2021 Victoria released another EP called Waves. Victoria has moved west and is married to producer Devan Skaggs.
Today I will be discussing Victoria's song, Love In Vain. This song was released as a single and on her latest EP, Waves. The instruments consist of acoustic guitar, processed drums, and a synthesizer. The introduction to the song is so beautiful with the acoustic guitar and the reverb effects. Victoria sounds fantastic as she begins to sing, and her voice is so breathtaking that you forget this song is supposed to be sad. "Meet me in the parking lot. The only place we've left to go to, I'll try anything once. I will perform for you." The following line is genius: "We've done all this before, sometimes I even think I like it. The bigger the lie we tell, the more we're prone to buy it." My first thought is that something sexual is happening, but I'm not sure if that's the case. Maybe she's performing to be someone she's not just to make the relationship last longer. In the chorus, the drums come in and add a groove. "I will let you worship the ground I walk on, even if there's nothing there. You will let me follow you down. All in the name of feeling something, it was love in vain." She is willing to let the other person believe whatever they want of her if that means she can feel some connection. The second verse is also well written. I think the second verse can be one of the most complex parts to write in a song. You have to keep the first verse idea going, but without saying something you have already said before. I think Victoria does a great job of that. "Talk around the obvious, avoiding conversation. In the information age, we have mastered evasion. Then you tell me what you want, and I'll happily oblige. I've been making myself smaller all of my fucking life." Even though we live in a world where we can find out about anything whenever we want, Victoria doesn't want to know the truth. She's used to telling herself lies to get by in life and make other people happy at her own expense. Victoria then adds harmony to the second chorus, and if you have read my other blog post, you know that I love harmony. It keeps the hook fresh by having a new element of sound there. After an instrumental break, Victoria goes into the final chorus, which is the song's climax. You can tell Victoria is singing with more power and emotion, which makes me want to jump in and sing with her! Then after she says love in vain one last time, the music fades into the background, and I quickly go back and repeat it because that ending just leaves me wanting more.
I hope you have all enjoyed this post, and be on the lookout for my interview with Victoria! Please check out the song in either the Spotify or YouTube link below.
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6ETYI6A3dsOe9fJTBQVWg8?si=eec51d742c644fda
YouTube: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLCWucz28xBIFSXuR4JkTdVMJQe8MHjPne
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