With the lyrics of her new song “River of Forgiveness,” singer/songwriter Wai Lana is doing so much more than merely telling us a story – she’s issuing a recipe for relaxation and healing that people need to hear in 2022. The world’s angst and troubles seem to wash away when this player is singing, and yet I wouldn’t necessarily call this new single a purely vocal-driven work at all. As a multidimensional release, “River of Forgiveness” is quite the complicated, thoughtful listen, and it’s getting points with all the right critics this year because of it.
The rhythm with which the verses are formed together in this track is definitely buxom, but it’s not overstated with a monstrous drum section. Contrarily, I would have to say that the percussion could have used a little more of a kick, but I can also understand why Lana wouldn’t want to do as much here. She doesn’t want to get us too enamored with the instrumental pins here, but she’s also exploiting the presence of the groove for everything it’s worth – which is quite the hard combination of tasks to pull off without a hitch. Her peers could learn something from the grace she shows in this recording if nothing else.
In a performance like the one used for this single, there should be no embellishment over the instrumentation, and there isn’t; we’re allowed to enjoy the full scope of the harmonies as they were always intended to be heard. I wouldn’t have used quite as much of the string play towards the beginning of the song as Lana decided to, but if her aim was to get us enthralled with the musicality here right off the bat, I don’t know that there was another way she could make “River of Forgiveness.”
Emotions of the most personal and amazing quality are ripe for your observation in this single and its brooding new music video, and they’re not the sort of thing you’re going to be able to find in every indie pop track you hear on the left side of the dial this August. Wai Lana is using her skills as a songwriter to inform this vocal with as much affection and passion as she can, at least from within the otherwise constrictive environment of a recording studio, and in my book, she deserves to be regarded as a top tier player who isn’t afraid of much.