Review by Ashley Friedman
Gina Cimmelli, a singer-songwriter out of Brooklyn, NY and Independent Music Award winner, brings us her latest single “Midnight” off of her recently released EP My Little Lies.
The song begins with a very rock and roll vibe. The drumbeat is both rhythmic, yet compelling. The cymbal plays an essential part throughout the piece as it ends the verses going into the pre-chorus and then the refrain. The electric guitar is subtle in the background, playing behind the drumbeat, but is strong enough to make a statement itself.
The song overall gives the listener the feeling that the singer is numb in the life she is living; There seems to be nothing exciting going on. The chorus “I just want to leave the earth / and all its gravity / find new friends in the stars and sleep for eternity, all eternity,” is where we see that feeling the most. However, as the piece goes on, both the lyrics and instrumentals get stronger, and it gives the listener a feeling of excitement that the singer is going to get out of this “rut.”
“Initially I set out to write a love song, but it just never came – and so the chorus has a different vibe from the verses – which are still sentimental & apologetic. For me, the chorus is about letting go and letting myself be,” says Gina.
Gina’s voice gives off a very electronic sound. With a touch of Regina Spektor, her voice is in the here and now, but has an old-school feel; a sound that many musicians today try to accomplish, but never quite get there. Gina, however, is an exception.
“I put a big wall / after a giant fall / protecting what’s left / my solitude named miss berefted,” is a verse that is almost a breaking point for the piece. It’s here that Gina is facing the facts of what’s happening, how she’s living, admitting that there’s an issue, and then in the lines that follow “it’s alright darling / I’m still here / I’m still here, that’s all that matters,” is a subtle way of saying, life goes on, and that life isn’t a rehearsal, “I’m still here,” really puts that idea into perspective.
“This song was written as a way for me to explain myself to the people in my life who were worried about me. I think we all get to a point in our lives where the outside world just seems a bit too heavy and we just want to tuck ourselves away and not have to deal with life,” comments Gina.
The song takes us for a ride on an emotional rollercoaster. At one point, we’re sitting in a roller coaster, looking at the next hill, trying to prepare ourselves, and then there is that subtle build-up of us going up the hill, and then the drop is a rush of all of the emotions that got us there in the first place. The end of the ride is both reminiscent and invigorating, we’re still here, but it took us a whole ride of emotions to get there.
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