DIMILA has come to terms with a one-sided relationship on her raw and candid new single, ‘Tornado’.
The track, which marks the Munich singer-songwriter’s first single of 2024, is carried by a distinct acoustic feel, helped along by warm guitar melodies and the subtle pulse of rhythmic percussion.
There’s a simplicity to the track’s production, with sparse instrumentation that allows DIMILA’s enrapturing vocals to rightfully take centre stage.After all, it’s DIMILA’s performance that remains the major drawcard of ‘Tornado’.
Though they are delivered with the blissful breeze of a whisper, the vocals are acrobatic and consistently engaging, at once recalling the vulnerability of Olivia Rodrigo while remaining heart-warmingly intimate.
It’s as though listeners are right there with DIMILA in the studio, with her lilting timbre reaching acrobatic heights and clearly sung from the heart.
Though the spacious production allows DIMILA’s voice to to shine, that’s not to say that ‘Tornado’ is devoid of unique sonic flourishes.
At times, the production swells to anthemic crescendos, alongside moments of near-silence save for the twang of a finger-picked guitar.
The result is a track with a distinct singer-songwriter feel, as though it’s been conceived, created and sung from DIMILA’s very own bedroom.
This intimacy is most prominently felt in the lyrics. As though pulled from the pages of her diary, DIMILA lays bare her vulnerabilities in a relationship, ruminating on the facades we wear when navigating romance.
“I fake my feelings,” she coos, “I’m sick of pretending.” Later, she questions her partner’s intentions and succumbs to the confusion, before relenting to the “tornado” of emotions that comes with love.
What enriches ‘Tornado’ is the fact that its light-footed and airy production belies an otherwise-melancholic story, as though there’s still a glimmer of hope in the relationship she sings of.
Such mastery of a sonic and lyrical vision would be a feat for any artist, but ‘Tornado’ is doubly impressive given DIMILA’s relative greenness in the scene.
Her debut single ‘Our Home’ arrived in 2021, and she has steadily released three additional singles in as many years. ‘Hide And Seek’ arrived last year, and an EP is slated for release in 2025.
Until then, we at least have the lullaby-like reverie that is ‘Tornado’. Listen to that below.
