Finnish artist Conchis showcases a brooding electronic alt-pop on “It Will Only Hurt Once,” the third single from her upcoming second album Gravity. Composed entirely in her mind during a severe ME/CFS crash that left her unable to make music physically, the track transforms personal adversity into a haunting study of emotional entrapment and the painful decision to leave a deteriorating relationship.
A whirring synth pad melds with a thumping percussive presence as the track establishes a late-night, intriguing soundscape right away. “It will only hurt this once, it will only hurt you twice,” the delivery unveils with foreboding entrancement, exuding a sort of later-era Radiohead charm as the heavier bass component eases in alongside sporadic echo-y tonal effects. Conchis’ lead presence is particularly striking as it assumes an elongated tonal ferocity, in the “you are everything…” introspection approaching the track’s second minute.
A reference to “the wolves that have surrounded us” continues a haunting sense of tumult and restriction, where vows for momentary one-time pain creep into the possibility of a second painful sensation, representing a swelling wave of personal struggle. As Conchis composed her second album, Gravity, during a debilitating period of chronic illness (ME/CFS), it makes for an apt, heart-on-sleeve prowess. The track’s final minute is especially chilling in its overlapping harmonic layers, between subdued dreaminess and stutter-y, higher-pitched emotion. “It Will Only Hurt Once” is another stellar output from Conchis, who previously caught our ears with debut album Chapters and single “Under Your Feathers.”
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This and other tracks featured this month can be streamed on the updating Obscure Sound’s ‘Emerging Singles’ Spotify playlist.
We discovered this release via MusoSoup.
