January 21, 2021
Amara Sorosiak
HIGHWIND CONTINUES TO BLAZE NEW TRAILS WITH A NEW ATMOSPHERIC RENDITION OF THEIR 2019 SINGLE "2023"
|
Brought together “by accident,” to quote frontman Chris Russo, Highwind enlists the help of Idle Waves and producer Connor Hanson to create an ethereal departure from their usual pop punk sound. “Originally, the recording session for that day was going to be a live acoustic session,” Russo continues, “But someone who was going to be a part of the session had to drop out last minute because of personal issues. So instead of recording a live session, we built a new version of, ‘2023,’ from the ground up.” The song still maintains acoustic elements as originally intended, but the reverbing guitar, and Russo’s echoing voice, make this version unlike anything Highwind has ever released.
|
The video, released alongside this single, shows behind-the-scenes footage from the recording process. With its quick cuts from the vocal recordings, to the guitars and drums, the video highlights each element of the song, further synthesizes them, and puts faces to each individual sound.
“2023” is an appropriate single to revisit in the COVID era, with its talks of loss, separation, and this new sonic reimagining which sends chills up listeners’ spines at the first note. The song opens with the lyric “Sitting by the water, I heard your deepest fears,” and the contradictory line “I think you’re afraid of dying. Well, that much is clear.” Death is a common fear across all of humanity due to its mysterious nature, but now more-so than ever, when it is seemingly right under our noses with the pandemic. Highwind individualizes this fear, creating a one-on-one conversation between the song’s narrator and its subject. The song’s lyrical content is bleak, well-suited for this new version, and suggests that death and fate are absolute: “So did you know your fate? / Did this fall into place? / There’s not a second chance, / I just lost all my faith.”
“2023” is an appropriate single to revisit in the COVID era, with its talks of loss, separation, and this new sonic reimagining which sends chills up listeners’ spines at the first note. The song opens with the lyric “Sitting by the water, I heard your deepest fears,” and the contradictory line “I think you’re afraid of dying. Well, that much is clear.” Death is a common fear across all of humanity due to its mysterious nature, but now more-so than ever, when it is seemingly right under our noses with the pandemic. Highwind individualizes this fear, creating a one-on-one conversation between the song’s narrator and its subject. The song’s lyrical content is bleak, well-suited for this new version, and suggests that death and fate are absolute: “So did you know your fate? / Did this fall into place? / There’s not a second chance, / I just lost all my faith.”
|
|
2023 is just two years away, a year that most of us are eagerly awaiting, since the pandemic will, hopefully, be a thing of the past, and we’ll have our lives back. However, “2023 (Reimagined)” realizes hard times and “travesty” are still possible, and familiar, concepts in the near future. The song’s closing repeats the lines “I really don’t believe, / This modern travesty / In 2023 just happened to me,” suggesting that when one’s judgement is clouded with false notions of security, or when one envelops themselves in the skewed realities found online, for example, natural processes like death and despair are a rude awakening, and become all the more detrimental to one’s well-being.
|
“2023 (Reimagined)” follows up “Crashing, Burning,” featuring Nolan & Jake from The Fairview, released in November 2020. “This version is also a great transition into the new songs that are going to follow this release.” Chris Russo states, which likely means that Highwind will continue expanding their musical horizons with future releases.
