On March 19th, Austrian singer-songwriter Anja Franziska Plaschg will be dropping her second album under the Soap&Skin pseudonym, Narrow.
"Wonder" is the second track to drop from the album, and the track is as simple as it is painful. Anja's weary voice coos softly over gently played piano arpeggios as an atmosphere of extremely faint instrumentation builds up from behind. The occasional heavy bass not pops into play, which serves as a constant reminder of how heavy and loud this song could have been. Though the total package is quiet, "Wonder" is pretty great about using a variety of volumes and textures.
The chorus vocals are what completely sells this for for me, though. It's like Anja was able to find a chorus of singers as sad as she was writing this track. Their singing is soft and soothing, but also quite haunting once I think about what the lyrics are.
With the simple pianos, soft vocals, and light melody coming in at the very end of this track, "Wonder" is a true lullaby. It's a sendoff to sleep for those going to bed with a broken heart.