English-born artist Lyves’ single “Plenty of Ways” tracks the singer’s healing through a paired back, somber pop ballad that still manages to stretch out sonically. The singer kicks things off with a soft, contemporary pop backing complete with distant synth, foggy percussion and sweeping strings. Lyves’ voice is rough around the edges and crunches around her lyrical delivery.
The somber-sounding instrumental is contrasted by optimistic lyrics such as, “In your arms I feel like enough / I never thought these walls I’d climb / You helped me up”. The singer’s range of emotions is evident in the more optimistic lyrics and starkly different admissions (“Plenty of days I’d wish me dead / Plenty of dreams that went unspoken”). The contrast between the two mindsets offers a distinct humanization of the artist, one that demonstrates her thoughts that swing on an emotional pendulum — which is just about as real of an emotional depiction as one can get.
You can listen to “Plenty of Ways” on platforms such as Spotify and Apple Music.
