A long time favourite of Chordblossom, Hannah McPhillimy has released two singles under the Ferna name, with the latest ‘Wasting’ back in February. Now a few months later, she’s returned with the follow up, ‘Walk On‘, a beautiful track inspired by Coretta Scott-King, the wife of Martin Luther King Jr.
The thoughts and emotions of devoting one’s self to a prominent figure, who himself is devoted to a bigger cause. Ferna’s lyrics swerve around the conflict of love and neglect, and as Ferna’s describes it, ‘the hidden personal cost of living your life in the shadow of another person’. Ferna’s voice burns softly with emotion, held up by simple piano lines, before stirring instrumentals rise with the vocals into the song’s bigger moments. The single release today is accompanied by a lyric video, filled with black & white visuals.
“I wrote this song very quickly after watching the film Selma. Scott-King featured very little in the movie really, but her scenes stayed with me. She was the one dealing everything at home – the death-threats, protecting her children – but yet, she received none of the credit for the work. It got me thinking about how I might feel in that position, and tentatively questions the – usually female! – obligation to bury your own dreams for the sake of someone or something else.”
A beautiful exploration of the conflict of devotion, ‘Walk On’ is a captivating release from Ferna. The release comes as she prepares to play the Chordblossom Tenth Anniversary show tomorrow night in the Black Box. More pertinently, Ferna plays ‘Women in the Shadows’ on 3rd June, as part of the Oh Yeah’s Women’s Work festival.
