North-London songwriter Sarah Meth pulls open the first heartrending curtain to her third EP, ‘STEPS’. The lower-cased titular single, ‘Steps’, delves into the numbing pains of past sexual trauma, unmasking the contrasts between public perceptions and the very personal, aching reality.
‘Steps’ sits with the low hums of a dark and lonely bedroom, where keys tenderly enter with the warming glow of street lights through veiled windows. Sarah Meth’s fragile vocals gently untangle from herself, perhaps somewhere between the tapes of Grouper and Sibylle Baier. Every softly spoken word carries with it a heavy weariness, ready to crumble under its weight yet also too numb to ever fully break down.
The instrumental passes over; it invites you to linger in its embrace a little while longer and feel the soft touch of its vulnerability. What remains is a sound that moves beyond its sensitivity: an acceptance, an echo of release, and a voice of empathy.
Reflecting on the release, Sarah shares, “I never intended to create a project around sexual trauma, but making these songs at the time played a big role in helping me process a way of accepting and taking ownership over some things that have happened. ‘Steps’ is ultimately about ‘making it through’ to define new versions of ourselves after such experiences.”
Released via Slow Dance Records, the six-track EP, co-produced with Louis O’Bryen (Sorry), is a blanket of lo-fi intimacy, woven from the similar threads of Sarah’s second EP, ‘Leak Your Own Blues’. ‘Steps’ is only one minute and fifty-five seconds, but within that, it’s enough to bring you to your knees.
Photo by Milly Cope
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