Photo Courtesy of Wyn Doran
In 2019, Wyn Doran had just embarked on her career as a solo artist, having bounced around a few Boston bands in the five years before that. After attending a songwriting workshop put on by Ben Folds, Doran felt like she had a grasp on what she wanted to do with her solo work. While venturing off to blaze your own trail can be a daunting endeavor, she took the change in stride to great success, releasing a debut EP called Thick Of It in October of that year and pulling a nomination for “Female Performer of the Year” at the New England Music Awards. But in 2020, things changed rather quickly, and she couldn’t continue with the live performances she had started developing during those brief early days as a solo artist.
So the story goes of what being a performer has been like over the past year plus. But lockdown didn’t stop Wyn Doran from continuing her songwriting career. Linking up with violinist and composer Josh Knowles, Doran is releasing a new single called “Concern,” which combines her pop vocal styling with an orchestral, electronic instrumental. It’s haunting, ethereal, the sound of an anxious mind looking out at a rapidly changing world.
The bassline that permeates at the foundation of the track hits and drones in a foreboding way. Knowles’ violin playing – which mixes legato playing and some plucking – lends the track a ghostly quality. For a song with the refrain “there’s no reason for concern,” it sure does leave the listener with an eerie, foreboding feeling. Perhaps the only real comfort is Wyn Doran’s vocal delivery: gentle, soft, but never weak. It’s as if she is trying to provide a comfortable shield without betraying the overwhelming sense of dread that surrounds.