With 2016’s Wishlist EP – recorded to tape at the apartment of band mate Ty Ueda – Lina proved an ability to craft simple, introspective and succinct songs, each one a pulsing glow leaving you both hollow and whole, alone but never lonely. It is on Lina’s debut album Won that we reap the full rewards of this newfound confidence in expression and rejection of internal hesitation. “The writing doesn’t necessarily get easier, but I feel more comfortable tapping into emotions and going to those places that need to be written about. Won, as it turned out, is the product that I have been hearing and picturing in my head as I write and listen to music.” It is the product of what happens when you push past the fear of what it means to think out loud – to become accountable for your internal struggles by way of manifesting your ideas into songs that are then free to grow apart from you, to exist on their own while always remaining specifically implicative of you. Now backed by a full band, each track manages to remain piercingly intimate, sometimes brief, and always honest, while gaining a wholly new sense of gestation both sonically and lyrically.
“I am all the wiser now that I accept my fate”.
It’s clear throughout that Lina’s awareness of their internal shift is folded into every corner of these songs. The move towards working with a full band, the deliberate force with which their often quaveringly raw vocals are delivered, and the lyrics themselves are all constantly functioning to process and take stock of an updated self. Which is not to say this is an album of concise reflections or black-and-white conclusions. The darkly punctuated “Summer Sleeper” rolls in with one of the more concrete claims Lina presents us with. "On letting go: it's only as good as you want it to be, only as bad as you make it." This is an album insistent on the consideration of perspective above all else.
The album art, a reference to the historical practice of photographing ectoplasm expulsion, acts as a visual representation of the internal changes and newly gained perspectives precipitated by the writing and recording of this debut album. “Writing this record was a lot of looking inward at myself with close eyes. Figuring out what I had to get rid of and what I had to keep. I like the idea of an ectoplasm being something you’re expelling. That you’re getting rid of because it shouldn’t be inside you anymore.”
And at a certain point, growth is not just a process of replacing old selves with new, but often simply an act of expansion. Won in many ways continues to dig through Lina’s preoccupation with the search for home. It’s a deceptively loaded search sewn gracefully into the haunting and sparse track “Face Off." Whatever "home" means - a relationship, a physical space, a mentality, or an emotion - that’s up to the listener. As Lina puts it, “It’s a record for me, but it’s also for everyone else. I don’t claim to be totally emotionally stable, or smart in relationships, or always very conscientious of others, but this record is me reaching out and trying and maybe sometimes I lose but sometimes I win.”
Fitchburg State
Lina tullgren Lyrics
Jump to: Line by Line Meaning ↴
And as it fell you rose to claim it
It was dark and I was over
Until you kissed my lips and you saved me
My hands, they're strong
But my knees were far too weak
To stand in your arms
But there's a side to you
That I never knew, never knew
All the things you'd say
They were never true, never true
And the games you play
You would always win, always win
But I set fire to the rain
Watched it pour as I touched your face
Well, it burned while I cried
'Cause I heard it screaming out your name, your name!
When I lay with you
I could stay there
Close my eyes
Feel you here forever
You and me together
Nothing is better
'Cause there's a side to you
That I never knew, never knew
All the things you'd say
They were never true, never true
And the games you play
You would always win, always win
But I set fire to the rain
Watched it pour as I touched your face
Well, it burned while I cried
'Cause I heard it screaming out your name, your name
I set fire to the rain
And I threw us into the flames
Where it felt something die
'Cause I knew that that was the last time, the last time
Sometimes I wake up by the door
That heart you caught must be waiting for you
Even now when we're already over
I can't help myself from looking for you
I set fire to the rain
Watched it pour as I touched your face
Well, it burned while I cried
'Cause I heard it screaming out your name, your name
I set fire to the rain
And I threw us into the flames
Where it felt something die
'Cause I knew that that was the last time, the last time, oh, oh
Oh no
Let it burn
Oh oh oh
Let it burn
Oh oh oh
Let it burn
Oh oh oh
I let it fall, my heart
I exposed my emotions, leaving myself vulnerable
And as it fell you rose to claim it
You took advantage of my vulnerability and used it to your benefit
It was dark and I was over
I was in a negative state of mind and attitude
Until you kissed my lips and you saved me
You brought me out of my negative mindset by showing me affection
My hands, they're strong
I have physical strength
But my knees were far too weak
My emotional state was weaker than my physical strength
To stand in your arms
To be close to you physically and emotionally
Without falling to your feet
Without becoming completely submissive to you
But there's a side to you
You have a hidden aspect of your personality
That I never knew, never knew
I was unaware of this hidden aspect
All the things you'd say
The words you spoke
They were never true, never true
You were never honest with me
And the games you play
The manipulative actions you took to control me
You would always win, always win
You were always successful in manipulating me
But I set fire to the rain
I destroyed the trust and stability of our relationship
Watched it pour as I touched your face
I witnessed the destruction happening before my eyes
Well, it burned while I cried
The pain was agonizing
'Cause I heard it screaming out your name, your name!
I associated the destruction with you
When I lay with you
When we were intimate
I could stay there
I felt comfortable and safe with you
Close my eyes
I trusted you completely
Feel you here forever
I believed our relationship would last
You and me together
Our relationship as a unit
Nothing is better
No other situation could compare to our intimacy and relationship
And I threw us into the flames
I made the decision to destroy our relationship
Where it felt something die
It was a painful experience
'Cause I knew that that was the last time, the last time
I realized our relationship was over for good
Sometimes I wake up by the door
I still have feelings for you and think about you often
That heart you caught must be waiting for you
You have the ability to capture someone's heart
Even now when we're already over
Even though our relationship is done
I can't help myself from looking for you
I still have feelings for you and am drawn to you
Oh no
Expressing a negative reaction
Let it burn
To let our relationship completely end
Oh oh oh
Expressing a sense of urgency
Let it burn
Reaffirming the desire to move on from the relationship
Oh oh oh
Continuing the sense of urgency
Let it burn
Finalizing the ending of the relationship
Oh oh oh
Ending with a sense of finality
Contributed by Skyler G. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
islandgroovies
I agree, I'm a huge Angel Olsen fan, and there are a lot of moments in this track where I hear strong resemblances in the vocals. But you still clearly have your own style of singing. I love it.
Kristof Souvagie
instantly loving it
wizard
this is fantastic
Brandon Turner
When is this available to stream????? Love itt
Elliot McDonald
I love the tape hiss in the background. It gives the recording that 4-track sound and texture, but by no means is this 'lo-fi.' The guitar tone sounds immaculate--really fills the space and is more dynamic than digital. Maybe this was recorded digitally, but it sure doesn't sound like it. Get lost and asktell are great recordings as well.
E Flood
nice, i like !
Raffy Rillo
I dig this. Very Angel Olsen-ish.
Catalán Esteban
good shit yo
the light reveals the place
Ace ❤
2.zef. 7
Cool.