Following her dreamy isolation inspired collaboration with Wolfjay ‘Very Soon, Very Frequent’, Austen has released her first solo single of 2020, and it’s a very exciting beginning of a new chapter for the rising singer-songwriter.
‘Worse Things’ is a straight-up and honest song that also doubles as one of her most vulnerable tracks yet. Exploring the complexities of anxiety, she opens up about her personal battle and the frustrating outlook from people around her that keep telling her that “worse things could happen” while she’s having an anxiety attack. It’s something that feels feels super condescending, and lacks a general understanding of the psyche of the person in that present moment.
“It comes on hard, and I’m breathing kinda heavy. The beat of my heart makes my feet unsteady. All they wanna tell me is the last thing I wanna hear, worse things could happen” she sings during the chorus.
Leaning towards an indie-pop sonic that is inspired by the likes of Lily Allen and Sky Ferreria, she shifts towards a more DIY influenced sonic and steers away from the polished indie-pop she was previously releasing.
With a rhythmic groove embedded in the production, she immediately has the listener moving along with her while she unpacks her feelings to them in a very direct manner. With the swaying production driving the rhythm, she glides into a very polarising bridge that offers a gritty DIY breakdown that feels so perfect.
‘Worse Things’ is a very strong beginning of this new chapter for Austen, and allows listeners to hear the heavier experimental side to her artistry that we are going to become more subject of in the near future.