Maureen Trainor rides a wave of emotion on her plaintive and potent new single and animated lyric video Adrift — showcasing today on Tinnitist.
The ocean is always an apt metaphor for our internal swells, ebbs and tides, and that’s likely why it transfixes us so much. Charlottetown alt-folk artist found herself taken with the sea during the early days of the pandemic, resulting in this nautical-themed interior soundscape of a track. Adrift begins with a mellow, acoustic strum and somber introspection as Trainor narrates, “I’ve been staring at the ocean / While it sets its sights on me / My heart adrift without direction / Salt spray rapture on the sea.” The song swells with emotion at it takes us on a gliding journey of self-reflection.
“Like most people, I became very introspective during the pandemic — most likely caused by sudden isolation,” Trainor shares. “During those strange new times, I took almost daily trips to the shore where the water has always centered me. It was there that the song was born. I imagined my heart afloat, at the mercy of the tides and weather conditions, rolling gently on the soft waves and tossed about in violent squall.”
The song really came to life, however, during the recording process, via a collaborative effort between Trainor and producer Erin Costelo. The cut includes “a trombone evoking the nautical feeling (and) a cello keeping things flowing with the additional colorful elements that could be whales or wind or gulls,” Trainor says. “The bass and percussion accentuating the relentless rhythm of the ocean’s pull. And the deliberate choice to have the vocals front and center accentuates the storytelling in an authentic and unadorned way.”
Trainor provided the guitar and lead vocals, with Jordi Comstock on drums and percussion, Tom Easley on bass, Andrew Jackson on trombone, Natalie Williams Calhoun on cello and Costelo supplying background vocals.
Trainor has been writing songs for close to three decades. Her writing style most closely aligns with folk, although she enjoys listening to a variety of genres and has an eclectic music collection from which she draws influence. Her debut CD Nothing But The Stars was nominated for two Music PEI Awards in 2020.
Check out Adrift above and below, and follow Maureen Trainor on Twitter and Instragram.
