The appeal behind Bridget Rian's new single "radio silence" is a heartstring ripper. Released as the third track from her as-yet-unreleased EP, this brooding ballad showcases the singer-songwriter at her most open and most engaging. "radio silence" is the type of song that sneaks up on you with its emotional precision. It's filled with the feeling of being stuck in a toxic relationship that you just can't shake off. Rian finesses that emotional limbo with such quiet destruction that it's as if she's whispering your secrets back at you.
It's a cold, calculated weight to the track. Her voice is drained, nearly unfeeling, as if she's practiced this hurt one time too many, which makes it land even harder. The heavy instrumentals behind her lean into its gravity, carting the weight, like emotional scaffolding. It's a beautifully understated and heartbreakingly effective one. There is much unsaid in the pauses between the notes that sound, in the resigned halts, in the quiet sighs.
It is a song of silence of the kind that lingers after an argument, a parting, or a love that didn't exactly come to an end so much as it wheezed out. Bridget Rian is not in the business of crying for sympathy on this track, nor of cleaning up their break up and heartbreak. "radio silence" is less a song than a sentiment, the reverberation of being left on read, the specter of a connection that will not die. If there's ever been a time when emotional honesty in music is more appreciated, then "radio silence" is a rich moment of catharsis from Rian.