3.5/5
Although Olivia Barton’s newest track, “My First House,” is quiet, it still deserves a listen.
Released on Sept. 22, “My First House” is the last single from singer/songwriter Olivia Barton’s upcoming album For Myself and For You, coming out on Oct. 10.
In an Instagram post made about the song’s music video, Barton stated that “until a month ago, I’d never seen any video footage from my childhood.” After having her mother digitize it all, Barton remarked that she “sat in [her] bed watching it, thousands of miles away, ugly crying.”
The song “My First House” reminisces about these times in Barton’s life. “Anne Lamott said anyone who survived childhood has enough material to last them a lifetime,” Barton wrote in another post remarking on the inspiration for the track. The singer went on to say, “It’s just so human to look back and wonder if our life has been especially painful or especially beautiful or especially ordinary. I think it’s usually all of it.”
“My First House” explores these paradoxical feelings in great depth.
A quiet piano ballad, this track totes an unassuming simplicity. Although it seems that the intricacy of the track’s musicality was not Barton’s top priority, the sweet, muted sound echoing from the piano does a good job uplifting the singer’s beautiful vocals. This allows Barton’s singing to be the focal point of the track, highlighting the narrative lyrical style that she has come to be known for.
Although I am usually a sucker for a raspy, one-take demo, I believe that “My First House” deserved a little more work in this department. In pursuit of beautiful simplicity, Barton has overreached, resulting in the track becoming almost boring. If a little more time had been put into the song’s production, the lovely story that the singer is trying to tell would likely reach a wider audience.
“My First House” understands the principles of narrative lyricism. Throughout the track, Barton explores the feelings associated with revisiting her childhood home many years later. “Breaking down driving through the streets that lead to my first house / Knocking on the front door / ‘Do you mind if I come in? This is the house I grew up in?’” Barton sings before going on to describe the young family that now lives inside the home.
She, like many of us who have left homes that were a special part of our young lives, dances among the ghostly memories she has of her time in this place. Yet, in her fond remembrance, there is also immense sadness. Her family’s presence has been replaced by the life force of the current family residing within the house’s walls and spaces that were once hers are now theirs. Barton remarks that the tub she was born in is gone and what was once her playroom is now an office. All of these things take the wind out of her — a heavy reminder of the passage of time.
Although the song is melancholic, there is a bright ray of hope that emerges from behind the rather mournful lyrics. Barton acknowledges this new family’s happiness and although she feels sad that the house is not as she remembers it, she is happy that another family will have the ability to make it a home in the same way that her family did when she was young.
Although I feel that this song would have been better off with a higher level of production, I believe the beautiful way that Barton tells a story cannot be ignored. “My First House” is as lyrically stunning as much of the rest of her work, continuing a trajectory that will likely bloom even further with the release of her new album this fall.