Fifteen kicks off with a heavy feeling bass and kick drum, baggy instrumentation creating the feeling of whizzing down lamp lit streets under starry skies. With a gorgeously vulnerable vocal performance from Erika Wester, there is an anti-folk feeling here that evokes the music of Kimya Dawson, shot through a soft-focus teen-movie filter.
Wester is a singer-songwriting based in Los Angeles, CA, and she focuses on creating music with an authentically raw and vintage sound that lets her delicate vocals take centre stage. As her new single, Fifteen is a coming-of-age song inspired by a relationship with someone close to her who was “feeling really down in life”. Erika’s commitment was to be by their side, even if she couldn’t help directly. Wester considers the song a reminder to “go easy on yourself”. “Go softly,” sings Wester, delicately.
Sometimes being there is the best thing we can do for our friends, and being a friend to ourselves is the best thing we can do for ourselves.