Here’s a fact: no bad music is ever made by Swedes. This, like birth and death, is an immovable constant, a total indisputable. It just is. And so it is with American-Swedish Rhys Clarstedt Frank, and this gorgeous, wistful, sombre Jörgen Elofsson (Britney Spears, Kelly Clarkson)-produced pop gem.
With its delicate finger-picked guitar arpeggios and tender Lorde-in-bed vocal, this masterfully executed piece is performed with a profundity and emotional intelligence far belying Frank’s 19 years on Planet Earth. Intentionally ambiguous, the message of the song can be interpreted in a myriad of ways; a paean to failed relationship from the perspective of the partner shouldering blame; a call-to-arms to quit being stubborn; an admittance of infidelity. When Rhys sings ‘Swallow Your Pride’, she is singing to all of us, all of our most vulnerable, proud, tender facets. “I’ll do anything you want to… come on, swallow your pride” is at once an admission, a refusal, a statement of intent. And it’s immeasurably powerful as all of these.
During these cold, dark winter months, the world is not short on melancholy. But with ‘Swallow Your Pride’, Rhys caresses the sadness deep within and soothingly comforts the ache. When Rhys sings, we listen.
