In Charlie PS’s single, “Slow Burn,” the Vancouver-based, England-born rock artist isn’t mincing words about the modern music industry.
The creativity inherent to music is what ignites the magic we feel when that bassline hits. It’s not a formula, it’s not linear, and it doesn’t require metrics for meaning – it’s a journey into humanity that makes you want to move. This is core to the concept of “Slow Burn,” a cathartic roar from Charlie PS as she unleashes her frustrations onto the track.
“Too many side eye glances I’ll never learn
Too much of a good thing, point of no return
Too many times that I wanna sit and watch it burn,
You better notice, you better know…”
Over instrumentation from Steven Roe on lead guitar, Lachlan Tocher on bass, and Brennan Buglioni on drums, Charlie PS rocks out with plenty of raw emotion.
“‘Slow Burn is my retort back towards an industry that is forever changing with expectations that are unrealistically high, especially for independent artists,” she said. “We live in an incredibly bittersweet age that allows us to bypass the need for record labels by being able to self-promote and self-record our music, but that also results in being more easily lost in the crowd of those also pushing for the same goals. Sometimes, it feels less about the quality of my music and more about how many times a week I post to my TikTok, and that thought is one of the matches that ignited the fire into writing ‘Slow Burn.’”
The way Charlie PS, who also provides rhythm guitar on the track, structured the song and delivers the vocals displays the urgence she feels to keep up with what she’s hearing all around her. The chorus was bumped up one BPM faster than the rest of the song to add a hurriedness to that portion, one example of how the artist used tools other than her words to get the message across.
“This song plays around with feel and timing,” Charlie PS explained. “All of the verses in ‘Slow Burn’ are played in a ‘swung’ style rhythm, whereas the rhythm changes to a straight style right at the end of the pre-chorus going into the chorus.”
“Slow Burn” is the fifth of five tracks on Charlie PS’s latest EP, “Even If It Kills Me,” which is set to be released on Oct. 27. The artist dug deep into her psyche to bring together a project with plenty of personal meaning.
“Each song is a bit of a snippet from certain periods of my life over the past three years, recognizing things I need to work on – in the songs ‘Raw’ and ‘Down To The Devil’ – and celebrating moments of personal growth – in ‘Revival’ and ‘Even If It Kills Me,’” she said. “Then the final song, ‘Slow Burn,’ focuses on everything that I’ve been wanting to vent about regarding the music industry over the last few years and underlining my intentions in moving forward at this stage of my career.”
Charlie PS burst onto the scene in 2018 with her debut EP, “Little Miss Dysfunctional,” which included a track that went on to be nominated and win Best Pop Song, be nominated for Best Music Video, and earned the artist herself a nomination for Artist of the Year at the 2019 Kootenay Music Awards. She also finished in the top-100 in CBC’s Searchlight competition in 2019 and won a spot at the local Surrey Fusion Festival in the same year.
In 2021, Charlie PS introduced the world to her single, “Ghost of You,” which combines flavors of alternative and southern rock, creating a backdrop for western-esque storytelling. It was featured on the Spotify Editorial Playlist “Morning Blues,” BBC Radio, and CBC’s “Rock Canada” Playlist.
The artist has a sound that can be described as a sonic melting pot, which makes sense given her upbringing. Charlie PS was born in Bristol, England, but transplanted across the world at a young age to grow up in Nelson, British Columbia. She has since moved to Vancouver, where she continues to draw inspiration from a wide variety of rock and blues, naming Stevie Nicks, Ann Wilson, Grace Potter, and ZZ Ward among her encouragers.
“I borrow elements of strong vocals and energetic riffs and use them to create my own blended sound rooted in modern-rock,” Charlie PS explained.
