Irish-born, Australian-based multi-instrumentalist and songwriter Bonniesongs bares it all in her latest single, "Strangest Feeling," a love note that sounds like floating just out of reach.
Taken from her forthcoming second album, "Strangest Feeling," which is due July 25 on Impressed Recordings, the title track is a soft and tender new shade in Bonnie's songs and emotional palette. Best known for the exploratory nature of her songwriting, Bonnie Stewart leans as much, if not more, into something direct as she ever has before. There's a soft streak of warmth beneath the indie-rock haze that lends some light to the proceedings. But this isn't some fairytale love letter. "Strangest Feeling" feels all the more affecting for its honest portrayal of love's fragile nature. It's about the fear of losing someone you love, but it's an upbeat song, it's a celebration of love and connection. When you're in love with someone, you're highly likely to get your heart broken at some point! It's that emotional push and pull that is at the center of the song's potency. The sound of "Strangest Feeling" stretches between dreamy guitar textures and spacious percussion, a soothing rhythm that's reminiscent of a heartbeat. Stewart's voice is intimate but expansive, a whisper lifted on wind. Unsurprisingly, the single has already caught critical ears, as it's currently a semifinalist in the 2024 International Songwriting Competition in the Album Alternative and Unsigned categories.
There's something undeniably human in how Bonniesongs depicts love, not the idealized version often found in movie scenes. Still, the one that resides in mundane gestures, exchanged glances, and the fact that death is always on the horizon. With "Strangest Feeling," she provides a song that is the sound of a slow exhale, a hazy reverie with its fingers buried in gritty reality.