Lindsay Munroe - 'Need A Ride'
Mancunian Lindsay Munroe releases a new grunge single “Need A Ride”, with a head bobbing rhythmic bass line and an aesthetic as moody as it’s tone and subject matter.
If you wake up and in a flash start listening to any song and are confronted by pulsating percussion, five seconds on a brusque bass line puts you in a trance, finally twenty-two seconds have passed in what seems like one, those sober vocals fade in “I don’t need another body to make me want my body”, if you wake up to that dear reader, then you aren’t listening to just any song, but to Manchester’s one and only Lindsay Munroe, “Need A Ride”.
My praise of the instrumentals of the song is as blatant and bold as the heart stopping bass line. The lonesome drums are a satisfying way to start the song, it puts the listener into that entrancing head bobbing mindset straight away, Munroe then quickly injects a second layer (the bass line) breathing new life into the song, it adds a slight to funk to accompany the drawn out vocals. Drawn out to the songs own credit might I add, the dragging out of some of the lyrics come off as sometimes mere suggestions of the word she is trying to say and this all works to Munroe’s credit, drenching the song in that trademark grunge fashion, and from hearing said vocals I have the suspicion a purely acoustic version of the song down the line possibly could sound perfectly harrowing.
The guitar provides a good bridging sound to give the song that sense of progression by teasing the guitar with single strums before exploding into the melody’s high point. This is obviously done as a representation of the feelings Munroe had at the time of recording and/or creating of the song, after recently becoming single in swift fashion, the build up to the melody’s high point and the high point itself is synonymous with Munroe’s realization of her discovery of her own independence as well as credence in herself. The final thirty seconds of the song fully encompassing her own emotional state after said discovery, the instruments all come together and Munroe’s backing vocals come in making the last seconds the most complete sounding part of the song, this is a clear emulation of a Munroe who has now fully found herself after the breakup, is now of clear mind and ready to be her whole self once more, the backing vocals are whispers suggesting that the experiences she is referring to is a long distanced thought.
The lyrics are as equally as piercing as the gritty instrumental. It gives insight into how un-frugal Munroe’s life is now without her past significant other “I feel more when I’m alone” she describes the experience without the past partner as almost enlightening, it has give her a new lease on live and opened doors that were jammed tight when with said past partner. While we do hear Munroe passionately lull about how much better off she seems without her ex, it would make it easy to assume there is a hatred or anguish there, some of the lyrics suggest otherwise and that she perhaps even gives a sly nod to both of them being better off, “when I wake up in the morning I think about how boring our lives could be” this line gives off the idea Munroe wishes for her ex to get the same enlightenment as she has, as she implies they’d both feel unfulfilled not simply herself.
These striking lyrics paired with the layered instrumental work in complete tandem to fully express the feelings Munroe had after her break up and how she feels now after discovering about herself and feeling a more complete and better off human. The subject matter of the song fits into the music landscape in modern music easily, but it feels tailor made for today’s populous with all the restraint on seeing your loved ones in the current Covid climate making now a clear cut time whence a vast majority will be sharing the same exact feelings and turmoil. The last thing for me to comment on is the album cover, its minimal, and for me offers a cult pulp vibe, personally I love it even if I fail to draw any concrete thoughts from it. All together this is a really solid song and it strongly shows Munroe’s competence as a singer/songwriter, and it has me eagerly waiting to take a bite out of whatever project she so desires to release in the future.
Words by Travis Rattle