River is out now!!
I couldn't be more proud of this melty, intricate vocal arrangement of Joni Mitchell's super-classic Christmas heartbreak song.
River is out now! Stream anywhere you like to hear music.
“It don’t snow here
You know, it stays pretty green
I’m gonna make a lot of money
Then I’m going to quit this crazy scene
I wish I had a river I could skate away on.
I wish I had a river so long I could teach my feet to fly.
I wish I had a river I could skate away on.
I made my baby cry.”
Y’all, this song…
I feel that “River” is so effective, so heart-wrenching, because it flows like one. This deceptively understated song seems to be ever exchanging between a colloquial, straightforward matter-of-factness and the sort of metaphor so precisely tuned to physicality and nostalgia that it can bring a shudder of memory coursing through the body. One moment you can be listening to a nice Bohemian lady tell you about how it doesn’t snow in Colorado and how she’ll hopefully be out of here soon, and the next you can be vividly remembering the tiny cold needles of wind on your nose, the wet crunch of the picks of your skates on the layer of frozen water separating you from an icy plunge. What a way to sing about heartbreak, man. It f*ckin KILLS me.
TL;DR: I’m a fan.
As you may or may not know, I’ve been working my Joni-Michell-stanning hiney off on a bunch of new original songs. They’ll probably start coming out in the early spring. I feel like a party kazoo! I feel like a helium balloon! I feel like a room without a roof! I’m SO EFFIN EXCITED!! This latest project has been a true and literal labor of love, containing a multitude of mini-breakdowns worthy of Bravo TV. I thought I was so chill and laidback, y’all. I really did. And God bless me, it made sense. I have made a bunch of my own records and never felt fully comfortable giving my own opinions enough deep consideration to let them come through in the music. I thought I just didn’t care that much; that I was flexible and chill and that nothing really *ruffled* me.
<eye roll>
Well, bbs, it turns out that I was just repressing all my feelings, thoughts, and opinions; and that I was feeling so afraid of causing conflict that I was willing to numb my frustration/anger/pain/sadness/confusion/beliefs so I didn’t disturb anyone with them. Casual. All that to say, I’m still working on the songs. But I feel like a couple months ago a corner was turned from hands-in-front-of-me-with-a-blindfold-on exploration to an excited YES in my body to the musical/thematic directions that I am now pursuing via these songs.
</eye roll>
<takes bow for css humor>
</takes bow for css humor>
In the meantime, it felt like a really beautiful idea to put out something new, even if it wasn’t ‘my own’. A truly great song like this belongs to the world, and that is precisely why it is so beloved. River tells the truth in both poetry and in real, salt-of-the-earth honesty. I can’t help but aspire to this type of writing, albeit in my own time and born of my own context and personality; Mitchell’s ability to paint a picture that poignant without once getting corny is inspiring af and I am grateful to be able to learn from afar from a writer like her.
I made this with an incredible producer, musician, arranger, composer, and mixer named Clive. You may know already that Clive and I recently partnered to make Canvas, an EP of three covers; Whipped Cream (Ari Lennox), Pearls (Sade) and Sound of Silence (Simon and Garfunkel.) If you haven’t heard that yet, discover it here. River is our latest project together, and I know we are both so very proud of it.
Follow along with us both on Instagram, and with me on Twitter and TikTok if you would like to be kept abreast of new musical developments. Much to come. We can’t wait to share it.
XO,
Audrey
I love your version of this song. You make into a hymn. A hymn to life and the longing when it is "coming on Christmas." This will be on repeat my holiday season.