Colorado singer-songwriter and multimedia artist Riley Max looks back on a difficult period of her life with new single ‘Year One’. Written during her first year at Harvard while struggling with her health and the overwhelming adjustment to independence, the track finds Riley wondering whether she will ever feel like herself again.
Beginning with little more than acoustic guitar and Riley’s understated vocal, ‘Year One’ is a beautifully patient slow burn. Gentle percussion gradually enters before the arrangement expands further, with delicate strings bringing a subtle sense of hope to an otherwise reflective folk-pop track. Eventually everything falls away again, leaving Riley’s voice exposed just as it was at the beginning. Knowing she wrote the song while experiencing problems with her vocal cords makes those moments particularly poignant; you’d certainly never guess it from her quietly assured performance.
Riley’s accompanying video brings another side of her artistry into focus, moving between glimpses of everyday life and charming stop-motion animation before the latter takes over. There’s a subtle storybook quality to the whole package, fitting for an artist whose music feels intensely personal while increasingly blurring the boundaries between songwriting, film and visual art.
