“WOMb” is the birth of the rising star deryk
An up and coming New Zealand artist Madeline Bradley, who goes by the stage name of “deryk,” released her first five-song EP earlier this month entitled “WOMb”.
deryk released the first single off of the EP, “Call You Out” back in July, along with a music video for it the same day. It is a strong song that captures deryk’s voice strength and depth.
The lyrics perfectly describe the internal conflict between the desire to stand up to someone and the fear of confrontation. The bridge uses her soft vocals to bring great contrast and dynamic to the other more intense pieces of the song.
“[The song is] about prejudice. It can be specific to so many situations where you just want to call someone out for saying something that’s just not right. It doesn’t even matter what it is. It’s just nice sometimes to feel that you can call someone out if you want to,” said deryk in an interview with Apple Music, that can be found when using Apple Music and looking at the editor’s notes attached to the EP.
“One Star” is a slower song that reflects on a past relationship. She sings about how the person should come with a poor quality warning. The well-written lyrics paint a vivid picture and tell the story of what happened in this relationship and the feelings that come with the outcome.
A video was released for this song too. The youtube description talks about how the music video was directed and edited by deryk herself and it elaborated on her concept of the visuals.
“I discovered the footage of this man on film supply [and] shot the rest at home. I like how weak he looks but how triumphant he seems. Whether it’s physical or mental, betrayal can be very isolating – processing it all whilst others judge you for not recovering in two minutes.” she wrote.
The next song is called “MEN” but according to deryk it is not actually about men.
“It’s just about taking time for yourself. Everyone forgets to do that. I was going through a lot in terms of not letting myself have a break,” deryk said.
“Go for a swim/ Dip your feet in/ Let your hair down and don’t let him in” is a mantra used throughout the song as a reminder for self care. The layered vocals on this track somehow bring a delicate and powerful beauty to the song simultaneously.
“Heard It All Before” is a song written about unwanted judgments about your body from others. It is about the constant and repetitive ridicule she feels her body and looks have been put under.
One of the most notable lines of the song is when she sings “still criticized in size/ Never got it right/ A cell, a prison of skin/ My morbid perception.”
The final song on the EP is a very touching song about reminiscing on now bitter memories called “goodtimes.” This song is distinctly the only lowercase titled track on the EP.
“That’s what goodtimes is about *all one word because I feel like the correct way of spelling it Good Times *two words is referring to times you can actually cherish,“ writes deryk.
Similarly to “One Star,” “goodtimes” is a reflection on a former relationship. It has a bit of a catchier and happier sound compared to the prior four songs. Once again, the lyrics and vocals in this song are very beautifully crafted and allow deryk’s talents to be shown clearly.
“This is the final video of the lockdown series I made for WOMb, thank you for watching,” wrote deryk in the Youtube video description for the closing track.
The EP is a project co-written and produced by Justyn Pillbrow. He has also worked with big artists like Halsey and The Neighbourhood. The two of them have created a piece of work that is incredibly intriguing and appealing to listeners. There is a pattern in the tracks – similar beats and underlying foundation of the songs put the pieces of the “WOMb” puzzle together.
The 22 year old artist’s new EP shows great potential for a successful future career in the music industry. It is well worth a listen and it’s definitely worth following deryk to see how far her talents take her.
