photo by Marion Earley; photo courtesy of Wyn Doran

Single Review of Wyn & the White Light: “Can the World Change”

Wyn & the White Light are 2023 New England Music Awards Female Performer of the Year nominee Wyn Doran and, presumably, the White Light: Lucia Jean (bass/vocals) and Heidi Tierney (drums/vocals). The day after Christmas, this trio dropped “Can the World Change,” a song about Wyn’s near-death experience in her twenties, an event that landed her in the hospital for a week and a half, starting the day after Christmas. (There you have the inspired connection to the December 26th release date.)

cover art by Wyn Doran and Lucia Jean; image courtesy of Wyn Doran

“Can the World Change” is a soaring, haunting, whirling cauldron of pop-rock energy. If done with just an acoustic guitar, it could be a haunting folk song, but the extra instrumentation turns the song into a cyclonic listening experience. The lyrics are minimalist but incisive, guided by a Ben Folds “six line” songwriting challenge, and exceptionally effective. This isn’t a song to sing along to. This isn’t a song to dance along to. It is a song to be felt and experienced. And with that as the goal, Wyn & the White Light have achieved it exceptionally well.

More Recently

As is so often the case, with my extensive review backlog right now, even though I received an advance copy of this single, I’m reviewing “Can the World Change” nearly three months after its release date, and Wyn & the White Light have released more music since then. “Statue” (featuring Josh Knowles, whose impressive talent I wrote about in my coverage of the “Behind the Songs 2” event a few years ago) dropped in late February. And on March 19, Wyn & the White Light released their first album, Luck, featuring “Can the World Change,” “Statue,” and eight more tracks.

Looking Ahead

You can catch Wyn & the White Light live on April 13th at The Overlook in Lowell, MA.