Wrené Nova’s latest “Deflect, Dissolve” is an anti-pop single weaving experimental electronica, ambient, and avant-garde elements through a haunting four-minute ballad that explores the pain of heartache and disconnection. The single also reinforces the concept of her forthcoming album Metamorphosis which will be a sonic exploration through the process of change and the perspective that comes with passing time.
“Deflect, Dissolve” may have been written during the recovery process of an emotionally wounding relationship but for the Toronto-based talent, Wrené hopes it “offers more than it being my own self-serving ‘breakup song,’” and that it can bring its own meaning to the listener.
In Wrené’s discography, her lyrics have always served as a testament to her poetic imagery, and on “Deflect, Dissolve” it’s no different. We are forced to examine if the love we give in a relationship is enough, “All I give, you can’t absorb,” sings Wrené over chilling pianos and spatial drum machines. “I stare in a two-way mirror nothing behind there, nothing between us,” follows, and invites listeners on a journey of introspection.
Whether she’s delivering healing frequencies and subliminal messages like on the Transmuting Darkness EP or experimenting with foley sounds like on the Live Wire LP, Wrené’s body of work is meant for the outsiders; those who abandon the mundane superficialities of life, “My music is a playground for escapists, rebels, and those who are interested in the abstract.”
In doing so, she has been able to create otherworldly, serene, and ethereal soundscapes that encapsulate dark and light, “I’m interested in hosting my mind as a wonderland for others to visit; to get away from the pain, monotony, and meaninglessness of life.”
But more importantly, she wants her music to embody universal truths that are rarely heard in mainstream music, “I aim to challenge the conventions of popular music,” she says. “By offering an unorthodox perspective as well as a deeper level of authenticity and vulnerability than what is offered in music being pumped out to the masses.”
Many see water as the element with healing powers and this belief is reflected in the music video for “Deflect, Dissolve.” Like a siren signing you to a shipwreck, Wrené’s chilling aquatic movements in the video joined with her poetic lyrics really bring the meaning of “Deflect, Dissolve” to a new level.
Shot by Kenzie Yango in a repurposed intex pool in the garage of Wrené’s parents’ house in Newmarket, the soulful vocalist “couldn’t be happier with the result” – even though the water was absolutely freezing and she was “quite miserable and cranky during the shooting.” But with a very high level of creativity on a low budget with limited resources, she says it shows how “you really can create so much out of seemingly so little.”
