Have you ever wanted something so bad?
A tale as old as time.
Life begins to weigh you down, and all your efforts seem in vain. Bit by bit, you feel yourself crumbling, frustration and hopelessness weaving together to lead you into temptation. A Faustian bargain comes to mind, growing more alluring by the minute. You wanna sell your soul. Can you sell your soul?
On 28 April, musician Tatum Quinn released her newest single, “Sell Your Soul.” A truly tantalizing, hauntingly beautiful track, it relays all the artist’s dark feelings, ones she confesses lead to this song.
“Sell Your Soul is a song written to myself,” she expresses. “A song that at my lowest, was all I felt I had. Having no hope I phoned my family telling them ‘that’s it for me and music…I’m done!’ Not realizing the pain that was fueling this song was bringing me back around to the one thing I love & desire most…music.”
This song, although mainly born from Quinn’s frustration with the music industry, is also relatable on many levels — especially when it comes to people in the arts.
When one’s hardest efforts feel in vain, when one is told they’re not good enough or feels as though their biggest accomplishments pale in comparison to others. When one feels as though they are headed nowhere, and the honourable road no longer seems so appealing.
We’ve seen this recurrent theme of flirting with the idea to sell your soul to the Devil to achieve greatness many times, and Quinn’s analogy in her track is very prominent. With verses speaking of frustration, and dissatisfaction, the chorus comes back at the end of each one to reiterate the tempting thought.
I wanna sell my soul
Can I sell my soul?
Oh I’ve been drowning
On this sinking ship for so long
The intense lyrics are coupled beautifully with the haunting, sensual music. As the drums set a steady heated beat, the guitar accompanies Quinn’s lament, picking up on her play-on-notes, her anger, her pain and plunges the listener in her dark thoughts.
Most recently, on 10 May, Quinn released the “Sell my Soul” music video.
It follows Quinn, alone in a room scattered with ripped pages from notebooks, at first surrounded by a blue-ish Victorian-like wallpaper, with crooked picture frames. Once the guitar picks up, the room alternates between a bloody red colour, and the original setting the artist is first introduced in, growing darker the longer Quinn stays on this “sinking ship.”
Quinn is a Montreal-based artist who trained at the Berklee College of Music in Boston, MA. She got the chance to be an opening act for artists like:
- Kool & the Gang (American R&B/funk band formed in Jersey City, New Jersey, in 1964 by brothers Robert “Kool” Bell and Ronald Bell, with Dennis “Dee Tee” Thomas, Robert “Spike” Mickens, Charles Smith, George Brown, and Ricky West.)
- The Pointer Sisters (American R&B singing group from Oakland, California, that achieved mainstream success during the 1970s and 1980s.)
- April Wine (Canadian rock band formed in 1969, based in Halifax, Nova Scotia. The band attained international success during the 1970s and 80s, with more than 20 albums since 1971.)
- Boy George. (English singer, songwriter, DJ, fashion designer, photographer and record producer; the lead singer of the pop band Culture Club.)
She also released another single this year titled “You Lost Me.”
She will be performing tonight at Turbo Haüs, on St. Denis.
Be sure to follow her on all her socials to stay updated!
Busybee's Playlist 
Leave a comment