Optic – Drowning Man

Can't Escape Myself – Optic deliver synth pop with depth

When I first heard Drowning Man, I imme­di­ately star­ted nod­ding my head – a reflex I've since broken with many new­er synth pop pro­duc­tions. But here, everything fits. With this track, Optic deliv­er a clear homage to clas­sic synth pop that, while not break­ing any new ground in terms of sound, is so finely bal­anced in its pro­duc­tion that I find it almost impossible to res­ist. The song sounds instantly famil­i­ar without seem­ing old-fashioned.

What strikes me in par­tic­u­lar is the bal­ance. Drowning Man is neither over­loaded nor trivi­al. The synths remain in famil­i­ar ter­rit­ory, well pro­duced and clearly struc­tured, without the need to con­stantly rein­vent them­selves. I like this con­sist­ency. Added to this is the vocals – warm, soft, soul­ful. No exag­ger­ated drama, just hon­est, almost mind­ful accom­pani­ment through­out the 4 minutes and 50 seconds.

Lyrically, the song is a dark insight into the inner self. The images of isol­a­tion, loss of con­trol and self-ali­en­a­tion (‘No air to breathe’, ‘Can't escape myself’) strike a chord with me. I see it as a power­ful self-por­trait – and it is pre­cisely this emo­tion­al dir­ect­ness that elev­ates the song above the typ­ic­al genre fare for me.

Listen to "Optic – Drowning Man" on Spotify

Lyrics of "Optic – Drowning Man"

I wake up blind at 4 AM
Shackled to my bed
Trying to kill that pain
Inside of my head
Pleading for the morn­ing light
To ease the hurt within,
End this burn and sear­ing itch
Underneath my skin

No ground to touch
No air to breathe
Drowning man
Drowning man
No land in sight
Just open seas
Drowning man
Drowning man
Can't escape myself

I dream of gold and clear blue skies
A lifelong sanctuary
But fate has oth­er plans
For someone like me
So take your seats, enjoy the ride
And watch my viol­ent fall
Let this dis­en­chanted fool
Entertain you all

Weighed down by the load of count­less sorrows
I walk that path no spir­it wants to follow
Forced to see my pur­pose slowly shatter
A dead-end street where noth­ing really matters

Messed up, way-lost
Shut out, cut off
Soul-torn, pinned-down
Fear-struck, back-bound

I'm going down

Can't escape myself