Slightly visceral and wholly more surreal than anything I’ve been listening to in pop music over the past few months, there’s something pretty cerebral about the melodies comprising the new single “Uncertain” from pianist Bonnie Milne, but not in the familiar sense that a lot of surreal indie content has been in the last year or so.
The plodding tempo alludes to a darkness that the keys are only willing to explore so far, but there’s an open-ended mystique to the paths they cross along the way. This is too powerful for lyrics, and it’s justifiably presented as an instrumental alone here.
“New Beginnings” is the other single that Milne is releasing in 2022, and although its structural integrity is one and the same with “Uncertain,” it feels like a much lighter performance in general.
The airiness of the music is sublime, and I would argue that it makes the efficiency of this player’s stylized output a little more digestible than it already would have been, which is a statement all on its own. There’s no debating the quality of her play, nor the numerous angles from which we can interpret what she’s trying to get across to us in this performance.
Bonnie Milne is a name that had come up on my radar a couple of times last year, and I’m beginning to understand why when I listen to these two new singles. She’s got a lot of passion for the pop-classical look that’s gaining some serious traction in the underground today, and if her spirited dedication in “New Beginnings” and “Uncertain” can help the style get a little more love from the mainstream press, she’ll be doing quite the service to both herself and her peers.
This is a game-changing duo of decadent songs, and I think they’re worth a second look this month.
Heather Savage