Taking a wealth of folk finesse and blending them through a digital popscape, “Shy Girl” is a folktronic delight. But if that genre label conjures images of acoustic hippies lacing their sound with ambient sonic touches, then you will need to think again. This is a world away from such run-of-the-mill, lazy music-making. Possibly a world and a half!
This is music that, whilst being brilliantly atmospheric, is also built around confident pop structures. Not for Flow Crowe the understated, underplayed sonic soundscaping; these grooves are accessible to the point of addictive, and it’s perhaps mostly the gorgeous weave of vocals, that lush sound that floats delicately across its digital waters, that puts the “folk” in “folktronica” here.
It is also a song with a message, a song that sets out to smash the titular “Shy Girl” idea, that image of the polite, demure wallflower that many still expect women to conform to. An attitude that is alarmingly resurfacing in recent years. “Outta My Way”, the song says, a mission statement for defiance, an anthem for women to combat such outdated ideas, and a rallying cry to get behind.
And not only that, once you have played the track, actually, played it a few times, sampled its rich electronic textures and it’s deft guitar lines, those trumpet-inspired soundscapes and it’s vivid vocal arrangement, you have two other mixes to explore too, one that takes it into the realms of the early hours clubland chillout room, the other that gives the original track even more time to explore and develop its sound.
Sometimes revolution arrives armed with pitchforks and burning torches, sometimes it comes as subtle sonic subversion, I know which one sounds more fun!
