Chastity Brown Chases a Feeling of “Wonderment” (premiere)

Chastity Brown’s sixth studio album, Sing to the Walls, looks inward, calling for optimism. The Minneapolis artist estimates having written nearly 100 new tunes throughout the 2020 lockdown and ongoing pandemic. Ten of them have made it to this new collection, including “Wonderment”. Blues undertones carry the track forward, culminating into a rocking crescendo capitalized upon by a soul-stirring keyboard. Brown commands the blues-driven arrangement with her smoky, expressive vocals.

She recalls her own “wonderment” towards the song, telling PopMatters, “The first verse I wrote was improvised. It stuck, though. But I couldn’t figure out what the heck it could be about. And then I remembered a psychedelic journey I went on in which the beginning was utterly terrifying. When I closed my eyes, all I saw were dark hues twirling about like I was stuck on the spin cycle in a washing machine.”

“The intent of the journey was to be curious about the subconscious interacting with plant knowledge, so I knew roughly the number of hours this would last. I recall distinctly realizing that I couldn’t be in control of this experience and I let go. When I closed my eyes again a moment later the hues began to brighten and the experience was elating. Some months later I wrote the second verse. I was beginning to have feeling for someone and had no idea how I would be affected. But I leaned into it and thus allowed myself the wonderment of it all.”