On April 1st, Stand Atlantic released a heart-wrenching piano ballad, "Drink to Drown," with lead singer, Bonnie Fraser, singing lyrics like, "What I would give / Not to be a concrete cloud / I'll deal with it just to savor it."
The music video that accompanies it features videos that fans submitted to the band. They show their lives in quarantine; some are celebrating birthdays, such as the young boy whose birthday wish is for the coronavirus to go away so that he could have a party, while others are making kombucha, playing the guitar, or catching up on sleep.
In the face of the coronavirus, the entertainment industry has come to a halt. Netflix has paused production on all of their television shows; as well, Warner Bros. has done the same for its more than seventy shows.
Yet artists and musicians are aware that there still is a need for entertainment. Many bands and musicians have live-streamed events from their own homes. Taking Back Sunday went live from their backyard on their Instagram stories two weeks ago; The Maine hosted an anniversary celebration of "You Are Ok" on YouTube on April 1st as well.
In an interview with Rocksound, Bonnie Fraser stated, "We're living through history right now and as scary and uncertain as this time may be, the one thing that has been so positive to see is how everyone has come together... We hope that this will spark creativity and solidarity to anybody who's watching and has been affected by COVID-19."
The chorus is the most haunting element of the song. "So pick your poison / I'm indifferent now / Do you still want me around, around?" Fraser's more tender side of her voice is shown through this song; the introduction starts with her softly singing, which is rare for the pop-punk singer, and builds into a more powerful gusto of emotion as the song goes on.
It is reminiscent of Paramore's "All I Wanted" in that respect yet less focused on uplifting guitar riffs and rhythm to ground it. It delves into the wounds of the coronavirus and what we have lost so far. With the music video though, the glimpses into people's lives during the quarantine offer that hope that everyone needs.
While we focus during their quarantines on how to become still and accept their realities, we are also facing what we've put off for so long. For me, I've wondered about what changes I should make to become happier. I've focused on music - retraining my voice, learning the ukulele, getting ready for my acoustic Cort guitar to arrive - because that's what has always made me happy.
Fraser is right - it is scary and uncertain right now in this world. By learning to focus on myself and my relationship to the world, I've asked myself hard-hitting questions such as, how do I define myself and how does my perception filter how I see what's happening right now? These questions seem daunting, but it reveals a part of myself that I never would've noticed before.
It's great that musicians like Stand Atlantic are still sharing songs with their fans in the face of this pandemic. We all could use a little piano, violins, and Fraser's voice to cheer ourselves up.
