Shawnee Kilgore Teams Up with Joss Whedon for “Back to Eden”
Shawnee Kilgore and Joss Whedon’s single “Back to Eden” is a dark, poetic, folk song that stays with you longer after the song ends. Unlike so much of popular music nowadays, “Back to Eden” communicates a story in a way that’s not literal and obvious. When Shawnee sings “there’s a scream of daylight every time the door swings,” the audience can derive a wealth of different meanings. Messages about alcoholism, depression, loneliness stem from every crafted lyric.
Shawnee’s emotes pain and introspection with her vocal performance on this track . Instead of using volume and belting to grab the attention of the listener, we are pulled in with her sensitivity. Listeners can’t help but be captivated by her storytelling ability.
The production remains simple yet effective. The song starts off with just guitar, followed by tasteful touches of cello and other string instruments. The strength of this song lies in the writing. “Back to Eden” does exactly what it needs to do without any bells and whistles: tell a story.