A guitar-led love letter to a cousin who passed away, Sierra Drummond’s Signs is an exercise in the healing power of music.
Sierra Drummond has released her new single Signs. A heartfelt reflection on loss and love, the track opens with gentle acoustic guitar strings and the subtle ambience of synths.
The relatively sparse production sets the scene for Drummond’s emotional vocal performance, which sees the Los Angeles musician deliver tender musings on grief and the omnipresence of signs from beyond.
“Can you send me a sign?” Drummond pines in husky vocals befitting of the track’s folk sound, “‘cause I miss you more as time goes by.”
The simplicity of the production on Signs leaves room for an atmospheric experience, and strips the song of unnecessary distractions to Drummond’s earnest remembrance of a family member who passed away.
By forefronting raw vocals and poignant lyricism, Signs recalls the work of Joni Mitchell and Tracy Chapman.
The song serves as a feat in narrative storytelling, as Drummond traces decades of memories while touching on the universal heartache of death. “Just want to feel you in this world some way,” Drummond yearns, “but I don’t know if you’ll hear me.”
A sonic love letter to a cousin that passed away in 2020, Signs is an exercise in the healing power of music.
“This song has functioned as one of the only ways I know how to continuously express the love I have left for the best cousin, friend, and person,” Drummond said in a press statement. “I wrote this song on the anniversary of her passing, really as an effort to somehow speak directly to her, and somehow still receive her strength and love, which I still look for all throughout my days.”
The deep, almost-tangible familial emotions heard on Signs were also coursing through its production. The single was recorded in Drummond’s childhood home with the help of her father, with the throughline keyboard strings performed by her mother.
With such an intimate and personal approach to songwriting, Drummond would be forgiven for storing a single like Signs in the archives, yet it remains one of her most treasured releases.
“When I wrote this song, I didn’t imagine it would be a song I found myself performing for strangers or sharing with the world,” Drummond said. “Yet I’ve found that it is the song that grounds me deepest, keeps me going, and connects me most to others.”
Drummond’s commitment to her artistry is perhaps to be expected, given that she is the daughter of two bandmates from the the 70s progressive rock band, Ambrosia. Signs marks Drummond’s first release in two years, having shared a trio of singles in 2021.
Listen to Sierra Drummond’s new single Signs below.
