PREMIERE | Mackenzie Shivers, "a cautionary tale"

Venturing through the fields and valleys of Woodstock, NY with Mackenzie Shivers; photographed by Sara Haile.

The curious construct of time and the cathartic outlet of the arts offer an almost otherworldly assist when navigating loss. Grief itself arrives in ways that are as unique as every living being, affecting everyone and everything in different ways too numerous to begin to chart. Finding approaches to counter something that seems so outside of us, yet impacting us in ways emotionally, psychically, spiritually, personally and so much more is one of the hardest things in the world. The specific nature of how it affects us can feel like confronting an adversary of our very unconscious, something that can be so alien, yet so familiar all at the same time. The exhausting aspects of merely coping can feel like a cop out. Moods can flux from unimaginable depths of sadness, to fits of rage and encountering an abyss of despair and guilt for everything we could have done, should have done and did not do and all the other unproductive scenarios that plague the theater of the mind. Healing is an ongoing dialogue with ourselves, others and through the crafts that make us feel whole once more. Through engagements with the instruments that cast a beam of light on our paths forward we can find routes that offer new destinations of meaning and brighter refuges of mindfulness that only the individual can discover for themselves according to their own respective journey.

From the trails of New York’s Hudson Valley shines Mackenzie Shivers with the world debut for “a cautionary tale”. A ballad that ponders the inner introspection that moves through hallways and quarters of deep loss, Mackenzie combines powerful vocal vulnerabilities and piano guided affirmations that move forward in progressions fortified by understated electronic percussive sequencing. From the forthcoming fourth album primrose was in season produced by Kevin Salem, the artist leads the audience through the solemn plains of life toward enchanted celestial states of reckoning and hope. Rising up and walking forward through the states of mourning and breaking beyond and through the vicious cycles of blame and shame — Mackenzie walks through the worlds of pain, spiraling thoughts and into an illuminated dimension of wonder. A world that is full of magical realism where solace, healing and strength can be found in unlimited abundance.

“a cautionary tale” serenely moves through verses that wrestle with angels, adversaries, allies and the inward foes of restless thoughts. A song inspired by the heartbreak of a miscarriage, Mackenzie arranges musings that sing out like the cursive loops and lines from intimate letters, privy conversations and the endless barrage of consciousness streams into a work of transcendence that mixes caution with unrelenting care. The fallout from something so earthshattering reverberates in every tone, where Shivers remains steadfast in parsing through the chaotic array of emotions, attachments, conflicting pangs of interpersonal desires in a quest for finding meaning through traumas that defy the principle logics of understanding. The tenebrous and maudlin moods of “tale” gently sway and hang on to every note as Mackenzie motions toward mythic heights. In the face of the song’s serious and gravitational pull, “a cautionary tale” rises in an ascent for elegant and elevated stratospheres where the wreckages of life’s gothic ruins give way to the ideas and notions that greater worlds and echelons of unrelenting peace are indeed possible.

Accompanied by cinematic visuals directed by Sara Haile in hand with editing and photography by Desdemona Dallas, featuring stylings by Lynsey Buckelew and assisted by Jess Malone—Mackenzie Shivers invites the audience to the places that span from upstate points of paradise to meditative Brooklyn spaces. The grandiose power of "a cautionary tale" is given the silver screen treatment, where the hymns of exploring the extents of hurt enters into transformative worlds of empowerment and universes of the infinite. The visual further underscores that resolve of the lyrics where we can hear, feel and see Shivers reclaiming her own unlimited powers in a kingdom of fields, skies, reeds and flowers. Mackenzie Shivers shatters the cliché cycles of overtold, reductive tales and receives her crown to pen new narratives of all the stories that have yet to be told, all the chapters that have never before been written and all of the arts that have never before been expressed.

The floral adorned throne of Mackenzie Shivers; photographed by Sara Haile.

Mackenzie Shivers shared insights on the creative process behind the single and the making of the upcoming album primrose was in season:

Mackenzie Shivers earth between the lush earth and the cosmos; photographed by Sara Haile.

The creation of “a cautionary tale” and the subsequent nine tracks that would make up my upcoming album was creative and buoyant, bringing joy to a very difficult time in my life. I was struggling to get pregnant and stay pregnant. I felt like the odds were against me, like I couldn't gain control of my own life. But in the studio, I felt like I had some control over what I was making, and I was also having a blast.

Reflections by Mackenzie Shivers; photographed by Sara Haile.

For “a cautionary tale”, we layered organic textures like pump organ and pots and pans with drum beats and samples to create something hi-fi, yet handmade. Driving my foot into the organ petal felt like a meditation, and with each press I let go of a little bit of anger. I felt a little more like myself with each piano take. And what took shape was my own version of dream pop, a world in which I could both escape and process a lot of difficult feelings.

Mackenzie Shivers’ album primrose was in season arrives in early 2024.