With crystalline vocals, saw wave synths and crisp percussion, the latest release from Sarah Smith is a stark slice of electronic pop carved from the same materials as the music of Chvrches and Robyn.
Based in New York, and still in the formative beginnings of her music career, Sarah began her relationship with performance far in advance of writing her own songs, dancing at the age of four. She went on to perform professionally on projects for the Brooklyn Nets and Nickelodeon. Her real focus on music followed her time at college, as she started writing. A partnership with producer Carlos Ruiz has led to Smith finding her voice, channeling a combination of 80s new wave, together with early social era pop.
Point of No Return is Smith’s second single, following on from her debut single, No Hard Feelings. Working with Carlos Ruiz, she looked to imbue an anxious restlessness into the song — something that you can feel in the propulsive percussion that underpins it. The result takes Smith into a darker synth pop direction than her previous release.
That sense of restlessness stems from Point of No Return’s thematic embrace of avoidant behaviours — both wanting love and security, yet simultaneously rejecting it. Throughout the song, Smith’s vocals purposefully switch between describing the main character as ‘she’ and ‘I’, a further reflection of disassociation, and the song’s own narrative dissonance. Describing the song, Sarah says:
“It’s a song for the anxious-avoidant girlies. I’m drawn to big, nostalgic pop that can make sadness and anxiety feel cinematic and beautiful. I grew up on the Tumblr and recession-pop eras, and I love that melodramatic world-building, where escapism and anxiety can coexist.”
Overall, Smith has created a dramatic narrative underpinned by a crisp, distinctive synth pop aesthetic. Check out Point of No Return below.
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