Shadow Sides Delves Into the Disconnect Between Romantic Fascination and Real Connection in the Delicate Dream Pop of “We Say Love But We Don’t Mean It”

Shadow Sides delves into another realm of human relationships that often goes unspoken or dimly understood with its new single “We Say Love But We Don’t Mean It.” Its languid pace and nearly whispered vocals with the pulse of a bass figure it’s musically reminiscent of the song “Seven Sisters” by Rainer Maria except for the icy synth that blooms throughout the song like a neglected part of one’s mind chiming in a reminder through pure feeling of a deeply buried yearning for real connection rather than those the logical mind has convinced itself would be cool and exciting and thus desirable. The title is the chorus of the song and as the narrative of the song unfolds the pace picks up and the line “Protect our hearts/Emotional blind spots/I want it, I need it/We say love but we don’t mean it” hits like a personal revelation wrapped in spidery, delicately chiming guitar work and the aforementioned bass line that now feels like a comforting presence. It’s a song about wanting someone to be something to you that they really aren’t and one’s willingness to look past red flags and deal breakers of behavior and personality because isn’t this superficially and attractive person the one you want to be with? Are you in this state of being capable of even knowing who you want to be with for longer than a day or a moment? Sometimes in life you don’t know and it’s part of the learning process for many people of learning how to actually love with integrity and not the charade of such based on an impulse and a whim. The song is about not quite being there but having an understanding that what you thought you wanted isn’t. Which is a stage of emotional evolution that some people never seem to get to stuck thinking they’re in love with people that are bad for them and torturing themselves by holding on when they should let go. Listen to “We Say Love But We Don’t Mean It” on Spotify and follow Shadow Sides at the links below.

Shadow Sides on Facebook

Shadow Sides on Instagram

Author: simianthinker

Editor, primary content provider for this blog. Former contributor to Westword and The Onion.