LISTEN: Talia Stewart Charts a New Course with ‘Broken Sinks’
Photo credit: Sara Anne Waggoner
We have fond memories of 2019. It was our first full year in Nashville. There wasn’t a pandemic messing up everyone’s plans. And, of course, we became acquainted with Talia Stewart.
It was about a year ago, in fact, that Stewart celebrated the release of her record, Confessional, in front of a packed house at Mercy Lounge. Since then, the Nashville dark pop powerhouse has kept busy in quarantine, releasing her first new track of 2020, “Broken Sinks,” at the end of August.
“Broken Sinks” is the first of two lo-fi tracks coming this year, and represents a more spacious, atmospheric shift in musical direction for Stewart. The single was brought to life in quarantine at Altru Creative in East Nashville, alongside producers Tim Ryssemmus and Cole Anderson.
“Cole was playing guitar one day. He was playing that walkup melody, and I just put lyrics to the notes he was hitting,” Stewart recalled. “Once we got something, I recorded a really rough demo tape, and we took that over to Tim. He polished it and made it what it is, and gave it that Travis Scott-sounding production.”
“Broken Sinks” is inspired by a breakup that Stewart experienced first-hand, where one of the biggest challenges in the relationship was communication. Stewart describes “Broken Sinks” as “…that point in a relationship where you know that it’s over, and you’re super apathetic about it.”
As for the title? It was inspired by an incident that occurred when Stewart and her mother were preparing for a premiere event at a local venue, which was interrupted by the space’s sink handle falling off.
“We were under a time crunch, and my mom just lost it, yelling at this sink. It was hilarious, but made me think about how silly that idea is, of yelling at something inanimate that has no idea what you’re saying or why you’re mad at it,” Stewart noted. “That energy is what I wanted to capture in this song.”
“That moment was interesting for me, to watch her lose it and not even hear herself and how she was talking.”
As mentioned, “Broken Sinks” is just the beginning of a new wave of music from Talia Stewart. The tune’s “sister” song — “Who Am I Without You Telling Me So?” — is scheduled for an early fall release.
“They sound similar, and they come from the same place of trouble in a relationship,” Stewart said. “This next one will definitely be in the same vein, sound-wise and concept-wise.”
After that, Stewart said that she plans to lay low for the holidays before re-emerging with a short, three-song EP titled Murder She Wrote in early 2021.
You can count us among the many people excited for what Talia Stewart cooks up next. For now, enjoy “Broken Sinks” below, followed by some never-before-seen photos, courtesy of Chattanooga-based photographer Sara Anne Waggoner!
Photos courtesy of Sara Anne Waggoner (IG: @sunlovesthemoon)