Saltwater Sun - 'Blood'
Photo Credit: Charlie Woodward
Reading indie sensations Saltwater Sun explore notions of grief and the ones we love living on through those left behind on new single ‘Blood’. Emotionally charged and with a streak of determination running through it a mile wide, this is an intriguing taste of their forthcoming EP.
The track begins with a delicate shoegaze intro, providing a glimpse of what a melancholy song about grief could sound like before swiftly switching gear and taking you to more exciting territory. The guitars chime around Ben Chandler’s persistent drum beat in a way that, appropriately given the subject matter, feels part nostalgic and part zeitgeist indie, like Pale Waves with more personality.
The death of frontwoman Jen Stearnes’ father lies at the heart of the song, yet despite arising from a time of grief ‘Blood’ is a remarkably uplifting listen. Stearnes captures a tenderness and hope as she muses on the feeling that those we lose never really leave us, declaring “I’ll always carry you through somehow, cos you’re there in my blood”. It’s a powerful sentiment that anyone who’s lost a family member or who has a semi-regular existential crisis about their parents’ mortality (just me? alrighty then) will connect with.
“With age, I mourn less for my loss and more for his,” Stearnes has stated, “and so endeavour to carry his memory so that he might live on through me. It’s deeply personal, yet completely universal; ‘Blood’ is about finding solace in the idea that we might transcend death through lineage”.
Your granny you wish you’d called more, your uncle who never stopped cracking jokes at family gatherings, Great Auntie Muriel with her papery hands and warbling singing voice. They’re all there pulsing through your veins.
Words by Hattie Long