Watching a loved one self-destruct through addiction sucks, plain and simple. It’s a powerless, helpless feeling, and one that Vancouver-based pop artist Alexis Lynn captures in all its complexity in her searing new single “House On Fire.”
“House On Fire” is a pop powerhouse, packed with infectious beats, cascading vocals, and gorgeous well-timed harmonies, while its lyrics deal with the cold, dank darkness of watching a loved one’s addiction progress.
You gon’ always do what you want to
No matter what anybody tells you
Chasing temporary fixes, you won’t call it quits
Just living to exist, yeah
And then, the metaphorical house starts burning as the narrator is forced to stand by helplessly — “I’ll just stand here 10 feet away/Watchin you, trapped in your house on fire.”
For Alexis Lynn, it was personal.
“This song is very close to my heart,” she shares. “I wrote it about watching someone I love struggle with addiction; I’ve seen some of the closest people in my life battle addiction, and this song represents what it’s like to be on the outside looking in.”
She wanted to capture the feeling of wanting to do everything in your power to help or save a person, even when they don’t want to be helped or saved. “Because sometimes what you may think is best for someone isn’t what they want nor what they’re ready for,” she says, “and that can be hard to accept in and of itself.”
“House On Fire” is the latest single in a series the Canadian urban pop dynamo has released since 2019’s breakthrough debut, Things Get Good. The seven-track release — and each single thereafter — radiates the First Nations artist’s inimitable, imaginative musical magnetism as her signature songwriting continues to delve deep into topics of love, lust, vulnerability, self-awareness, and everything in between.
Her singles run the gamut from the dance music-inflected “Ghosts” (a bare, anthemic contemplation of vulnerability and insecurity) to the club-friendly buoyancy of “Bubble” (a flirtatious trap-pop bop about emotional availability). She has written and recorded prolifically during the pandemic, and is looking forward to going deeper than ever on her next project — a multifaceted exploration of mental health and its effects on our lives and relationships that promises to be her most personal work yet.
