Toronto-based indie-folk singer-songwriter Zellie Bride returns with her new single, โLeave Behind,โ released August 29 as the first glimpse of her upcoming EP. Known for making intimate, cinematic atmospheres, Bride ties in nostalgia while extending a hand towards the horizon of legacy.
Fans of Phoebe Bridgers or Gregory Alan Isakov will recognize the hushed sincerity and reflective tone, while her smoky, deep vocal timbre gives the song its own unmistakable stamp. Built around acoustic guitar and piano, with a swell of strings gliding underneath, โLeave Behindโ is less about grand gestures and more about what we mean to people, and what we can give to them thatโs everlasting.
The track opens with soft, almost fragile guitar strums glowing warmly, soon to be joined by Bride in her slow sincerity. She opens the song with โI live in every place that I have been / Itโs no wonder that I never feel Iโm home,โ to get through the wandering introspection. As the first chorus arrives, a subtle drone expands the soundscape with gravity like the ground beneath her words. Lyrically, she braids together memories of childhood rooms, Christmas mornings, and riverside days, looking back with all the wistfulness, with a hope that sheโs lived gratefully and kindly enough to leave something meaningful behind.
Personally, first hearing โLeave Behindโ made me realize that, at the end of the day, itโs how people remember us when we are gone that matters more than our creations. At the same time, the song recalls Francis Baconโs reflection that those who invent or create leave a deeper imprint than those who leave only progeny with no lasting mark. Listening to the Toronto singer stirs the same urge in me to work harder, create more, and be kinder as a human being to carve out a legacy thatโs worth remembering and putting a smile on peopleโs faces.
By its close, when Bride sings โI am not this body / I am not this mind / No I am every little thing I will leave behindโ, the track blooms into a haunting mantra that invigorates and energizes on a spiritual level. You can listen to it on Spotify to be inspired as well.
Review by: Naomi Joan