Avery Lynch unpacks an all too familiar feeling of heartbreak in her newest track “Didn’t Show Up.”
“Didn’t Show Up” is the latest of three singles from Avery Lynch, who is planning to start the final month of the year with the release of her third studio album Friction. The track, which was released on Nov. 17th, was bundled in an EP with the album’s two other singles, “You’re Just a Guy” and “Not Angry.” All three songs follow a similar theme, tapping into the heartache that comes at the end of a relationship.
“Didn’t Show Up,” the title track of this collection of singles, is a quiet but meaningful song that aims to highlight the ghostly voice of the artist it was written by. Populated by gentle piano and delicate vocal harmony, the musicality of the song is relatively simple. This factor does not keep the sound of the song from growing. The addition of a drawling, distorted guitar rhythm accented by a muffled reverb allows the song to crescendo in the final few verses. This inclusion helps the emotionality of the track to expand as the song progresses, building to a more heartfelt ending.
While the song moves like a waltz, the couple in question won’t be having their first dance. Lyrics such as “You didn’t show up for me / Yeah you made me forget why I even like me / And I’m still not okay but we both know that don’t we” highlight that the relationship Lynch is singing about has been unsuccessful, leaving one person more troubled than the other.
Elaborating on this, Lynch sings “If I say we’re fine, does that mean we are / Or are we all telling lies ‘cause that’s how you get far.” These lyrics, which suggest that deceit created a point of tension in the relationship, set a precedent for the rest of the song. “Didn’t Show Up” goes on to chronicle a variety of ways that a relationship can fail in the hands of malicious intent. This is highlighted further by the lyrics “Yeah you made me small, and you loved it all / ‘Till the day I finally stopped listening / While you leave head high, I bet you don’t think twice.”
Heartbroken and recovering from a distressing relationship, the track “Didn’t Show Up” beautifully unpacks the overwhelming feeling of grief that comes with an unhappy breakup. Underneath the obvious lyrical meaning, the song also examines the process of having to find oneself after the end of an all-consuming love connection. Lynch’s narrative lyricism masterfully tells this story, drawing in her audience and captivating them with her perfect musical replication of a feeling many people know all too well.
“Didn’t Show Up,” in all its beautiful simplicity, suggests that there is a lot to look forward to with the upcoming release of Avery Lynch’s Friction.
