The rising singer-songwriter grapples with emotional turmoil on her larger-than-life single.
“I feel like I’m drowning” – uttered with measured confidence over an ominous thud, the first lines of Lara Villani’s debut track instantly draw the listener in. Sparse piano melodies flutter over top, just a chord or a key at a time, before a four-to-the-floor kick propels us even deeper.
Unconventional in both style and form, the track is a brilliant introduction to the musical force that is Lara Villani. A singer since the age of six (inspired by her sister) but struck down with stage fright for the majority of her formative years, she’s finally stepping out into the spotlight and she’s not looking back.
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On Stop, Villani reflects on a dark time in her life when she was struggling with her mental health. “Don’t want to wake up in a panic / I just want to scream / Why won’t it stop?” she sings on the song’s namesake line, her robust and versatile verse ascending to its peak in long, legato tendrils.
Her vocal style is clearly reflective of her biggest idol, Adele, as is her catchy yet impactful songwriting. The lyrical themes on Stop are perfectly matched by the mood of the music – it’s at once dizzying and powerful, full of anguish and clearly conveying what it feels like to be in the throes of depression.
In the video, glitchy and gory like a horror movie, the artist’s inner pain is externalised. Villani sits at a piano doused in blood, on the other end of the nightmare.
At around a minute and a half into the song, something unexpected happens. Electric guitar cuts through the mix. Laden with distortion, it sounds like it would be more at home on a metal song than a pop ballad. Yet it works, adding that extra oomph needed to build into a menacing crescendo in the song’s second half, which is filled with squealing solos, crashing drums and vocal harmonies.
To close, everything falls away, leaving only the piano and Villani’s gentle voice, emerging with triumph: “Now you can’t hurt me”.
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This article was made in partnership with Lara Villani.
