Newcomer Xara Davis enters the alt-pop arena with a head full of confidence and a poisonous snarl on her debut single, "Dear Medusa." Combining the raw feeling of betrayal with that more abstract fantasy of mythic revenge, Xara is declaring war. In a storm of pop punk, alternative rock, and alt-pop, "Dear Medusa" is a defiant anthem for anyone who has ever been cast aside and forced to pick up the pieces. Xara writes a letter to the mythic monster Medusa, begging, commanding, and praying for vengeance to turn a boy to stone.
It's a song you scream into a mirror with mascara streaking your cheeks, potentially, as gritty guitars slash through a spiking chorus and Xara's voice soars like a bird flying with wounded rage and zero fucks given. Her words drip with venom, yet they are never without openness. It's an excellent line between anger and frankness, and she walks it like a pro. Produced by Ethan Reginato, the song is clean, punchy, and bold, poised in a sound that will feel familiar to fans of Paramore, Evanescence, and Bad Omens, but it still pulses with Xara's own fresh fury.
The music video is equally daring, a larger-than-life visual that features a real snake, perfectly bringing the Medusa metaphor to life. And it's the sort of visual that burns itself into your memory, reinforcing the song's myth-meets-modern-pain feel. It's intimate, compelling, and unapologetically intense. As a debut single, "Dear Medusa" screams. Xara Davis does not come across as the pop singer, but rather the fiery voice of the broken-hearted who refuses to remain broken. She's here to spin pain into power and venom into victory. In a world where heartbreak tends to get romanticized, Xara Davis brings retribution with a guitar solo.
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