Album Review: Matilda Lyn - 'Red Dragonfly'
Matilda Lyn causes quite the flutter with her debut album, ‘Red Dragonfly’.
Matilda Lyn has in recent years solidified her status as the next main protagonist within the ever expanding world of intricate, textural and storytelling pop music. Having built up a distinctive sound made from weaving together ethereal yet dissonant instrumentals, sugary sweet vocals and just a touch of magic, her debut album is a joyous introduction to an artist who has been honing their craft for years. Over eleven stunning tracks, she cuts to the very core of her artistry; delving into beginnings, endungs and everything in vibrant technicolour. While its impossible to say everything you want to say on one record, Lyn explained her hopes for what the album would be able to get across:
“‘Red Dragonfly’ to me, drifts through transformation and change, reminding me of who I truly am. This is the first time I’ve made music and been totally aligned with how I want it to sound. This is me being the truest form of myself.”
With searing clarity and a vulnerability that bleeds through all the songs, this album is a fully realised world that Lyn invites you to dive into. Expansive, intimate and threaded with a sense of quiet but profound transformation, it is a dream to listen to as we all change with the seasons from summer into autumn.
The album opens with ‘Distraction’. From the title alone, its a wonderfully fitting way to begin proceedings. In a world where we are all distracted and having our attention pulled a myriad of different ways, theres something brilliant about how Lyn seeks to capture our interest with a song that exposes but also unites us in our preoccupation with life. Much like everything else that distracts us, the rythmn is fast paced and carries a kind of urgency that pulls you in for the ride. The way Lyn is able to build and layer the different instrumentals is stunning - with each listen you will uncover a new harmony or motif that gives the song more and more sonic depth. Always a new thing to be distracted, or rather, captivated by. The song ends in the same way that many a daydream often are; cut off, bringing us hurtling back to reality and longing for more. Luckily for us, Lyn is just getting started.
‘Detach’, and ‘Loving Loudly’ embody the same dreamlike quality that we have come to expect from Lyn. In different ways they all ooze a warmth that makes you wish for the summer to last that little bit longer. Moving a step away from the sweetness, ‘Compliments’ brings in new colours and shades as Lyn laments on the interactions that turned a connection sour. It starts fairly gently but in the bridge is given the space to let loose; the line ‘What the hell do you think you’re doing’ transforms from quiet question to an exclamation of the built up frustrations of having let someone get away with treating you the wrong way for too long. At first, it’s addressed to the guilty partner but with second and third listens, you begin to realise the question is pointed inwards too. Anthemic, powerful and urging yourself to seek out better, I anticipate this will be a favourite to perform live.
At the emotional epicentre of the album is title track ‘Red Dragonfly, incidentally also marking the halfway point as song number five. Its a song which Lyn says wrote itself, explaining that it felt like ‘its been in your body and mind for a long time’. Tracing the slow erosion of one’s own identity when trapped within the cycles of a destructive relationship, it is unflinching in how it deals with the collision of pleasure, loss and the inevitability of change.
Perhaps a reflection on her older work, ‘Little Baby’ expands on the cosy, folksy feel of previous EP releases ‘Bowl of Unripe Fruit’ and ‘Sunwarmed’. Soothing both the heart and the soul, its a grown up lullaby that brings together the new exciting ideas from her present and future sounds and the memories and nostalgia from the music she listened to growing up. The song is as much about embracing your innner child as it is letting them go: Lyn describes it as being full of the experiences and moments that came from growing up. She explains: ‘Sometimes it’s easy to think you’ve grown up but then the little baby in you shows up… letting her go is like pulling teeth, that part of me; the little baby’
A love song of sorts, it is deeply introspective and focuses on the universal insecurities and anxieties we all feel when we are forced to change alongside the world around us. A reflection of that change, the instrumentation is sweeping and in ways unforgiving. The synth beat than runs throughout speaks to the pace at which we have to just go on; a thumping drum that pulls you endlessly forwards. Lyn’s vocals are enchanting as ever, a steadfast guide amidst all the noise.
Things close out with ‘A Little Bit of Blue’. Contrary to what the title would suggest, it sounds like the feeling of waking up alongside a sunrise. Warm, light, and sung with a sense of hope for what’s to come. Production wise, its possibly one of the most stripped back songs on the album - an apt way to finish, allowing Lyn’s vocals to speak for themselves. They’re all beautiful but a lyric that really stands out is; ‘I can’t do anymore than this but I promise the feeling won’t stick forever.’
The ‘little bit of blue’ Lyn is talking about here are the things that get in the way; not having enough time, not being in the right place, not being able to commit yourself fully to something. The obstacles that prevent us from being our truest, happiest selves. She acknowledges that they will always be there, their inevitability is something that we can’t avoid nor fight. Over and over though she says that she will ‘wash your blue away’. While none of us can stop the bad things from happening nor can we really ever get rid of them outright, we are better able to deal with them together than we are alone. Throughout the whole album, she has explored the way we can choose to react in the face of change and struggle. The message that comes through is that only with community can we make things better for eachother; in coming together, we can see Matilda Lyn and by extension eachother as we are.
Having performed in her hometown of Gothenburg and at Way out West festival earlier this month, all eyes turn to when and where we can expect to see Lyn next. She has an album release show scheduled in bar Snovit in Stockholm but other than that, no live dates announced as of yet. If and when they do get announced, previous performances indicate that they are not to be missed. All we can do in the meantime is watch this space with the album on repeat.
Words by Kirsty Thomson
