“Give It Time,” a new single by Visceral Design, is a lesson in emotional storytelling. Recorded in Paris and the United States, the song, driven by delicately confrontational lyrics that capture those messy emotions of a long-term relationship on the brink we don’t always admit are there, and filled with textures that practically make each moment pulse to life.
You are pulled into one partner’s intricately layered perspective of heartbreak and reflection in a voice that seems isolated and general all at once. The chorus changes to second person, spinning around to the other partner, whose quiet optimism and desire for reconciliation instill a tension that readers will likely strongly identify with. By the second verse, however, the story becomes a journey toward letting go together, of both doing their best to escape what the artist calls a “trauma tourniquet,” and admitting that some past wounds can never be undone. But even within this catharsis, there’s a whiff of cyclical inevitability, “on and on we go,” a gently poetic acknowledgement of the ways so many relationships are defined by patterns.
The track’s calling card is Tyler Kaufman’s sensibility as a science-artist, multi-instrumentalist, and it shows in the beautiful sound design and sitar-laden backings that ultimately take this beyond being mere pop. “Give It Time” is an inquiry into emotional geography, a ride through despair, hope, and resilience set to music so evocative as to be unlike any other. Visceral Design demonstrates the fact that alternative pop can bear depth and introspection.
Connect with Visceral Design on Instagram – @visceraldesign
