Sara Wolff - When You Left The Room Review
Wolff left her hometown for Liverpool’s inner-city suburbia. There, she has grown her unique brand of alt-folk into a sizeable force reminiscent of the sophisticated melodies and arrangements This Is the Kit is known for.
When You Left the Room is the debut EP from Sara Wolff. Originally from Norway, Wolff left her hometown for Liverpool’s inner-city suburbia. There, she has grown her unique brand of alt-folk into a sizeable force reminiscent of the sophisticated melodies and arrangements This Is the Kit is known for but with a one-of-a-kind weird edge to them. Wolff’s lyrics are a comforting collage of advisory fables from days spent in bed, waning relationships and bungled social interactions, all primarily exploring the journey of young adulthood.
Wolff’s music is a grand and dreamily melancholic kaleidoscope of sound with her elusive vocals centre stage. The EP opens to track ‘Cotton Socks’, the first single released from the project. There’s an unmistakable moodiness in this track that seems prevalent throughout much of the EP. Anger and sadness permeate it. Lyrically, Wolff uses the metaphor of a bee to parallel her own bumbling around and insecurity.
‘Hands’ opens with pleasantly surprising reverb-drenched synths before Wolff’s hardwearing vocals join. Lyrically, you get the feeling that Wolff is talking of an ex-lover; there’s a delicacy in the images Wolff paints that mirror the delicate nature of her voice. All of the tracks on the EP were written and arranged in the bay window of her Toxteth home studio, maybe lending to the intimate atmosphere of these tracks.
With its gorgeous orchestral instrumentation, ‘Bad Thoughts Compliation’ is without a doubt a standout track. The gentle instrumentation compliments the longing in Sara Wolff’s vocal delivery. The atmosphere she creates on this track is the most optimistic of the track list thus far. Sara Wolff’s music is fiercest when there’s a groove in her music, exhibited strongest towards the end of this track with its gradual build and smooth melodic bass lines.
The EP seems to hold themes of a search for meaning. These songs could be classed as self-reflections for Wolff, a type of therapy in some respects. “The EP represents me growing up a bit more, finishing my studies, the end of a toxic relationship. Someone out there will relate, so technically, when I write songs for myself, I write for others too.” Wolff shares. There’s a bittersweetness on ‘You Like Talking About Yourself’. The instrumentation here is one of the more unique on this record, having this bizarre sea-shanty feeling to it. There’s a cacophony of noise as the track builds forward, leaving your ears primed for the Wolffs at the door. She self-reflectively wonders “What have you done?” perhaps shining a light on the artist’s fragility.
‘Get Away for a While’, the last track on the EP, leaves things on a high note. Similarly to ‘Bad Thoughts Compilation’, this track has an inescapable groove towards the end. It’s this euphoric sound Wolff has captured that gives her music a weight of importance. Thematically, the EP seems to revolve around a feeling we’re all sorely used to following the pandemic: “Those times you can’t get out of bed, you’re in a rut, sleep too long, don’t eat properly, scroll on your phone too much, cancel plans then feel bad about it, worry your friends won’t like you anymore, then stay in even longer. It’s a never-ending circle,” Sara shares.
The most compelling moments on the EP are when the instrumentation proliferates, growing into a groove you wouldn’t expect from an artist like Wolff. The themes and emotions behind the EP are heartwarming even when funnelled through a bizarre trip of melancholia. The explosive ending to this EP leaves you wanting more. Let’s hope Sara Wolff doesn’t “get away for a while” and instead keeps the groove going and growing for a long while.
