Synth Single Review: “Southern Coast” by Beachdolls

by Karl Magi

Beachdolls’ “Southern Coast” reflects on a special feeling and a special place, breathed into life by notes hovering like gulls on the wind, touched by a glassy sheen. Jessica Ess’ vocals wrap me in a comfortable flow, encapsulating emotions of home and caring. A guitar strums with clean chords while Jessica Ess permeates me with affecting feelings, chords like glimmering southern sun.

Questioning and love come together in the vocals as a wave sweeps like translucent seawater. Notes like pearlescent moonlight cast a gentle glow while Jessica Ess unleashes her voice to the sky. In the distance, tonal patterns undulate like the tranquil waters of a warm sea, as the melody transmits memory and serenity along with a tinge of sadness. Rising with affection, the chorus cries out and Jessica Ess’ fervency is undeniable. A guitar adds weight to the effervescent light before the song closes.

Rain falls in the early morning as the narrator experiences a “southern drawl and a cup of coffee.” It’s another day and “another escape to a place I needed.” On the beach, birds call and her feet are in the sand as palm trees climb, “laying their shadows from a million miles high.”

“Seasons come and seasons go, how I ended up here I’ll never know,” but our storyteller does know that it’s special to have the song’s subject there too. As the stars come out, she isn’t sure there’s anywhere else she’d rather go. She’ll “lay it all out on the Southern Coast.”

As she and the song’s subject hold hands, strolling along the water, she asks, “If we stayed here would we be making a mistake? Would anyone miss us in the city by the lake?”