Alberta, Canada-based alt-pop musician, Shay Esposito (recently rebranded as VENNA) is kicking off the rollout of her new image with her latest EP, Sugar Venom. Tackling themes of toxic power dynamics and desire for control, she allows herself to be more vulnerable as she deconstructs the illusion of invulnerability to things like betrayal and abandonment.
With the focus track titled “V”, she seems to write a letter of critique and love that feels apologetic and introspective. There’s an admission to being responsible in part to a friendship or relationship that has become toxic, but it is unclear whether this will lead to any substantial change. From the first line where she addresses “My one and only”, it is easy to read the song both as a moment of VENNA talking to a loved one or talking to herself.
Starting with an a capella building of vocal loops, she cleverly name drops each of the songs on the EP in a single line of lyrics laying herself musically bare before bringing in the arpeggiating piano and bass to fill out this new, darker pop persona. “I don’t wanna behave when you’re acting so damn aggressive”, she sings in the first verse “When you call me a narcissist / I love it when you’re so vindictive”. With this song, VENNA encapsulates what’s to come on the rest of the EP when it comes to the allure of toxic behavior.
“V”, along with the entirety of Sugar Venom, is available now on major streaming platforms like Spotify and Apple Music. Find this and more excellent music on the Alchemical Records Mutligenre Mixture playlist on Spotify.
Charlie Maybee is a dancer, musician, educator, and writer based in Charleston, South Carolina who currently teaches with the Dance Program at the College of Charleston. His primary work as an artist is with his performing collective, Polymath Performance Project, through which he makes interdisciplinary performance art that centers tap dance as the primary medium of expression and research. He also currently plays rhythm guitar for the Charleston-based punk band, Anergy, and releases music as a solo artist under the name Nox Eterna.
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