Spending much of your life, as many of us do, in online spaces, can often fool us into thinking that the relationships we’re forming with people we’ve never met are real and concrete. Sometimes they are, but as Devon-born singer ABISHA’s new song “Numb” tells us, sometimes social media can be a lonely place to be.
The track officially came out today, but it’s been in the works for some time, first conceived over a year ago with producer Toby Scott and songwriter Olivia Sebastianelli, not just as an antidote to social media, but also the isolation that’s taken such a toll on all of our mental health—a subject particularly close to her heart as ambassador to the Mind Out LGBTQ charity.
Built on the fluttering, aqueous electronics and delicate hi-hat triplets of Scott’s production, ABISHA’s feather-light vocals flicker with vulnerability as she takes us back to a low point in her life when she was struggling to find her place in a world dominated by these digital spaces.
To mark the release, she’s also sharing the video, a solemn piece that follows the singer on a lonely trip through London, gazing through rain-streaked bus windows and empty tube platforms, in search of human connection.
“I wrote ‘Numb’ at a time where I felt exactly that,” she explains. “The pressure of social media alongside superficial friendships and dead-end relationships was really getting to me and I was feeling pretty low. I was also struggling with self-image and my identity, which has always been a battle for me; I wanted to include all of these things in a song so that anyone else who might feel the same way wouldn’t feel alone.”
Hit play on the video at the top and then make sure you add “Numb” to all your playlists.
