The biting chill of winter sends us all retreating inside for warmth and comfort. But, what if you can’t leave the cold behind you? What if it clings to your being and traps your mind in a frosty web? You may have left the bitter elements outside, but the inside turns out to be a more frigid, inhospitable place to be. The lonesome and reflective feelings that come with the winter season are what make up “New Ways,” the latest single by indie folk project, Prints Of Monaco.
Oliver Monaco, the Brooklyn-based singer-songwriter behind this project, deftly transports the listener into an icy realm. As delicate as new fallen snow, it glides along with wondrous ease. At the same time, this gentle, indie folk melody is bittersweet. It carries a solemn weight to it that brings great pause.
The arrival of the winter season brings subtle reminders to Monaco. Specifically, “the second fall of snow” dredges up distant memories of a certain someone. Furthermore, the winter “brings a bracing” for more reminders of them. All of this leads down the metaphorical rabbit hole, leaving Monaco to rummage through his mind for “new ways.”
Those “new ways” simply begin with keeping track of the “miles” that separate Monaco from them. From there, we slide down in scale by having to “force a smile” and coming up with “new ways” to say “I ain’t seen you in awhile.” From physical distance to emotional distance, Monaco runs the gamut of how the absence of someone creates a void. As a result, you try to put on a brave face and try to scavenge your vocabulary for the right words to put it all into perspective.
Winter, on its face, is an isolating season. With “New Ways,” Monaco makes the season even more remote with this introspective tune. Becoming one with the bleak stillness of it all, he takes advantage of the moment to explore the emotional wreckage of a broken relationship.
Written by Travis Boyer
FOLLOW PRINTS OF MONACO:
