Eva Snyder leans into feelings of disappointment and hope in the expansive and moody “Dead to Me.” Using the word “maybe” to open so many lines of lyrics, Snyder envisions a better life, better habits, better ways of being and better ways of feeling throughout the song and aiming to leave behind who she was when she allowed herself to be hurt and manipulated by bad faith fools as you do when you’re someone who is more emotionally open and vulnerable and draw all sorts of types to you. In the song we also hear Snyder’s fears and insecurities like going back to her hometown because it wouldn’t be that bad and she wouldn’t feel like a failure who fell short of following her dreams. But in those moments of the song we pull for her and the backing vocals serve as a bit of a voice of her conscience and low key cheering on her more fortifying impulses like not being limited by memories of past behaviors even as the impulse to repeat past mistakes weighs heavy. The continually expansive tone of the song with its melancholic piano accents running alongside synths that swell and pass into the ether always in forward motion. Yet in the back and forth conversation with self it seems as though in Snyder’s expressive and winsome vocals we also hear the will to move beyond these moments of self-doubt as hinted by the title and how sometimes we have to think of phases of our lives in those terms. With the spare elements of the composition, Snyder is able to explore an uncomfortable and messy emotional complexity with clarity. Listen to “Dead to Me” on Spotify and follow Eva Snyder at the links provided. Look for Snyder’s debut album Seventeen set to release on May 3, 2024.
Queen City Sounds and Art 
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