Bacchanalia Magazine

by Reb Jordin

Ha Vay, an indie pop singer songwriter, recently released her single ‘Angel! Wild! Superstar!’ on April 26th which will find its home on her debut album ‘Baby I’m The Wolf’ which will grace listeners on June 21st . The song spins the tale of a runaway love story depicting a wild girl enrapturing a man who just by her presence is intoxicated by her. In this new single Ha Vay has mythologised her own life story to help others live a life worth writing about.

The single opens with a steady beat and a folky acoustic guitar leaving room for Ha Vay’s signature siren-like vocals that entice the listener into her story and inspires them to go and fulfil their own. The lyrics, ‘hot nights in October. Moonshine spilling over blue’ evoke chaos and revelry whilst also introducing us to the life of our femme fatale.

The music builds into the pre-chorus accompanying the lyrics, ‘you’d fight the wind just to breathe me.’ Here Ha Vay weaves a dream-laced tapestry which tells the story of a man being so wholly consumed by a woman that he would defy nature for her. This woman isn’t trying to be something she’s not and hasn’t let an unforgiving society taint her and this is addictive to him. He is drawn to her wild, she is the type of girl which will live in his most freeing memories for all eternity, always unattainable as she’s forever fleeting to live a life that belongs in an art gallery or a Keats poem rather than tied down to normality. Here Ha Vay invites the listener to dream and create a life where they too are fuelled by adventure and mystery.

The chorus begins as a delicate and playful entity before bursting into a cacophony of
ethereal strings matching the protagonist’s whimsical energy and her lover’s longing. Ha Vay chants the lyrics, ‘cause I’m restless, I’m breathless, I’m spinning, I’m reckless’ which conjure the image of a heroine with stars shining in her eyes and blossom petals catching in her hair as she storms into her lover’s town, the catalyst for a life worth living. He will romanticise her being forever.

After a whirlwind second verse and pre-chorus Ha Vay blesses listeners with the chorus again. The lyrics, ‘and I know I’ll be deathless in your mind and your art’ present a girl who is so full of life that she will light up another’s until they are dependent on her attention. This woman is protesting the conventional, demure stereotype of girlhood and is running into the sunset as a powerful goddess to busy being her own muse to care about being the inspiration behind a man’s next great idea, although he is already painting her portrait from his happiest memories.

With an electric and almost angsty bridge and another powerhouse chorus the single draws to a close. ‘Angel! Wild! Superstar!’ is for the wild girls who dance barefoot in the snow and chase fallen stars. For the girls who dream of the next big adventure and feel every song they listen to in the car with all the windows rolled down. For the girls who can pack up their whole lives into one bag and leave everything else behind just so they can say the experienced the whole world. For the girls who romanticise their lives like poetry because they’re so scared that they’ll look back and realise it never meant anything.

So go and give ‘Angel! Wild! Superstar!’ a listen and let it be the soundtrack you fill your getaway car with on your cinematic escape away from your mundane life to the type of living the greats would create paintings inspired by. Also be sure to check out the amazing accompanying mini movie and Ha Vay’s three live events to celebrate the release of her debut album ‘Baby I’m The Wolf’

Photo credit: Emily Oreste