Santa Barbara-based indie/folk singer-songwriter Wryn (they/them) whose world shifted four years ago. What transpired was a moniker change to their last name, Wryn — a nod to their evolving sound but more pointedly their transformative relationship with gender. Their reinvention, in sound and spirit, became the ethos of their new album, aptly called Shapes, out March 28 on Ani DiFranco’s Righteous Babe Records and produced by Bella Blasko (The National).

On the second single from the album ‘Snake’, Wryn channels the raspy intimacy of Sharon Van Etten as they process their righteous anger and the intense political and social upheaval — specifically the Black Lives Matter movement, anti-trans legislation and the overturning of Roe v. Wade.

“This song stems from a righteous anger,” they say. “A call to something older and deeper, it taps into my own personal experiences of not just systemic violence but the intimate + interpersonal kind. Having experienced assault in my past, this song was a way to transform my own pain into a call to action. ‘I can’t wait for an answer before I get free.’”