Rebecca Sykes is one of those voices just too much for the room to handle, tapping into emotions with a ferocity that has no place to go but out in music designed from heartstrings straight through and dripping off. Her latest single, "Dysmorphia," a lead from her debut EP "Face to Face," is a quiet reflection on body image that doesn't shy away from the uncomfortable or honesty.
Starting with soft guitar lines, "Dysmorphia" pulls the listener into Sykes' inner world from its very onset, a realm that is up close and personal, fragile, and contemplative. There's a Nick Drake melancholy running through the track, but updated with a clarity that is entirely her own. Every note, every gentle tap of the percussion is a heartbeat. This is music that doesn't just tell you how she feels, it makes you feel it, too.
Sykes calls the song a reflection of herself and fights to find light in the darkness of self-doubt. You can hear her openness, a brave, human wander through feelings we tend to keep in check, made melodic, made concrete.
"Face to Face" is more of that unflinching honesty. Throughout EP, Sykes tackles love and longing with the same delicate but searing touch that made "Dysmorphia" so gripping. In a music world full of polish, Sykes's work is a bracing gust of unvarnished air, lovely and achingly relatable.
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