Today (June 9) is a very exciting day for Reneé Rapp fans. The 23-year-old songstress unleashes the lead single “Snow Angel” from her highly-anticipated debut album. Not to mention, the forthcoming LP of the same name, Snow Angel, is coming out this Summer on August 18.
Reneé Rapp Bravely Opens Up About Trauma on Snow Angel
Reneé sings in a dreamy falsetto, gliding over an ascending piano that reaches an unexpected crescendo of metal guitar chords. The heavy-metal guitar on the bridge is met with soulful, fuzzy vocal belts representing Reneé’s emotional shift from sadness to anger. Chicago singer-songwriter Alexander 23 tackles the glam metal production on “Snow Angel.”
Burning – Yet Ice Cold
In “Snow Angel,” Reneé Rapp combats a tumultuous heartbreak during the wintertime. She reveals heartbreak over an ending relationship and implies that the other person was the one to call it off. “First to arrive, last to leave / What’s misery without company? / It’s hard to laugh when it’s hard to breathe / It’s white outside, but red underneath.” A common theme in “Snow Angel” is winter, which can be a season that many associate with freezing weather, limited daylight, and seasonal depression. Reneé uses visual imagery so the listener can imagine themselves outside in glacial snowy weather. “Feel the tip of my nose / It’s burning, but it’s ice cold.”
The chorus conveys feelings of hopelessness and self-doubt. “I’ll make it through the winter if it kills me / I can make it faster if I hurry / I’ll angel in the snow until I’m worthy / But if it kills me, I tried.” With snow angels being associated with childlike winter activities, Rapp could be saying she will try her best to be lighthearted and spontaneous despite being heartbroken.
The lyrics are bare and despairing, disclosing Reneé’s experience with dissociation from herself. Hiding her trauma and putting on a happy disguise has caused Rapp to become a shell of herself. “Smiles hide what secrets keep / Can’t tell a lie if you never speak / Look in the mirror, she looks like me / But half-alive and twice as weak.”
Check out the new track here.
