Moody, sensual, “Aludra” is dark-pop artist Annie Scherer’s latest single. With a name that refers to the blue supergiant star, it’s hard not to see how the song draws parallels between a romance that burns bright and crashes quick and the dying light of a great star. The song is beautifully poetic with that perfect twist of distant hope– the only thing that keeps the light going, until it finally flickers out. “Aludra” captures that poignancy in a way that only dark-pop could; before you know it, you’ll be swept into a storm of romance with a flame like no other and watch as it finally snuffs out, but not before a final flickering, spitting flame burns brightly.
I think the best way to describe “Aludra” is with one word: resplendent. It’s a wickedly beautiful song– its instrumentals are deep and rhythmic, providing a strong backbone to the song’s track, while Scherer and Nick Guttmann’s writing ties the whole thing together to offset the darkness with lyrics that jump between mellow and somber. With poetics like these, it’s an easy thing to acknowledge the wit of both Scherer and Guttmann at the writing table. “Aludra” is primarily surrounded by fiery metaphors and the final burn of a flame. I especially love how the chorus positions both listener and singer as outside forces: as the song goes, “With no way to stop/and now we watch/watch us burn out.” It’s almost as if watching the last flickers of a bonfire as it eats the last of the tinder, except in “Aludra” it’s you, the narrator, and her ex-lover admiring the bright flame’s end. Either way you look at it, “Aludra” is dark-pop excellence with its fantastic instrumental, vocals, and lyrics to make it so.
Annie Scherer is a Nashville-based singer-songwriter whose dark-pop and alternative discography is reminiscent of artists such as Lana Del Rey and Lorde. Since beginning her musical career at six years old during her classical piano lessons, Scherer has gone onto win runner-up in Lightning 100’s 2023 Music City Mayhem competition, perform throughout Nashville and upstate New York, and release her debut full-length album “Garden Bed” in 2021, which gained a feature in American Songwriter. After the album’s release, Scherer was also voted as best local musician in New York’s Capital Region in the Times Union. Her debut single “Andy Warhol” released in 2020, and has gone on since then to release her aforementioned debut album and many other singles. If dark-pop stylings are your thing, then Annie Scherer is absolutely your next artist to add to your playlist– and, if you’re new to the genre and enjoyed “Aludra”, then delve deeper into her discography to hear some more.
Written By Alexa Leung
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