Bacchanalia Magazine

by Reb Jordin

Pearl, an emerging surfer girl rockstar, just released her second single ‘Backwash’ on April 5th just in time for listeners to make it the star of their coastal summer playlists. After the success of her girl power anthem ‘No Man’, Pearl has been gaining fans rapidly through her empowering lyrics and nostalgic sound. ‘Backwash’ is yet another amazing and relatable single from Pearl, telling the story of drowning in the sorrow of someone you love when you already know how to swim, it teaches listeners that you can’t be a constant lifeline for somebody else as that is far too much pressure and they will only pull you down with them.

The single opens with Pearl claiming she is the girl she’s always been so nobody should be shocked by her consistent want of a healthy love not a toxic relationship. The lyrics, ‘I think a part of you knew that my love was always free’, are a guidebook for her listeners teaching them that they shouldn’t feel like they need to sink to the icy depths of the ocean just for the approval or the love of somebody else. This moment is paired with a moody baseline and angst fuelled guitar lacing ‘Backwash’ with a sound straight out of an early two thousands coming of age movie. ‘Backwash’ is for the Kat Stratford type of girls, who say they know their worth but still need reminding that they are enough every once in a while. 

Soon we enter the chorus in a kaleidoscope of pounding drums and a killer electric guitar mixing flawlessly with Pearl’s gravely, powerhouse vocals reminiscent of a seventies it girl hailing from the likes of Stevie Nicks and Janis Joplin. The lyrics, ‘high tide, we tried, goodbye’ tell the listener to trust your intuition when it tells you to leave, somebody you love shouldn’t suffocate you. 

The theme of being consumed by the trauma of another is continued into the second verse through the lyrics, ‘you learned to swim underwater, but I still need air to breathe.’ Pearl conveys here that you shouldn’t let somebody with trauma’s perception of love taint your idea of what love should be. Love should be healthy like floating across the waves under the summer sun with freckles dotting your nose like a constellation and your hair tangled into a halo around you. Love shouldn’t be chocking on the mental health issues of another until your cold and breathless with new scars vandalising your soul. 

So go and give ‘Backwash’ a listen and use it as your tide pulling you from any toxic relationships back to the shore. This single is truly the perfect getaway car.