Review: "Scars" - ELINA x James TW

Tessa Maddaloni
Sep 26
2 min read

Many things come with truly loving and appreciating someone, even platonically. The main thing is a full acceptance of your partner, flaws and all. You love everything about them, even the things they view as flaws. In a new single called "Scars", ELINA and James TW come together to relay this message, and their styles blend beautifully as they sing about true love and acceptance. The soundscape of this track is calm and motivating, their voices clearly relaying honesty and adoration. The project was also a huge moment for the two of them, as they both recounted how much they appreciated and listened to the other’s work before this collaboration, and were so excited to work together.

"Scars" opens with a calm, almost melancholic guitar chord. ELINA’s soft voice comes in as she sings the first verse, with lyrics about how she notices all of the things her partner tries to hide, and how she hates that they feel like these things are not as beautiful as the rest of them. In the first chorus, she sings, “All of your scars make you who you are / I'll love them forever, I will never have a change of heart / And all of your flaws, you make them yours / Has it ever crossed your mind that they are what I love you for?”. The next verse is James TW, and he sings about wanting his partner to step fully into light and out of the shadows. They come together in the outro as they repeat the chorus one more time with absolutely no instrumentals distracting the listener. Their voices blend together as they sing, driving home their beautiful message of love and acceptance.

This is the first collaboration of ELINA and James TW, and they both recounted how much they appreciated the other’s work and loved this process. Swedish singer-songwriter ELINA has been active in the music industry since 2018, with her main claim to fame being a songwriter for other artists. She has written for Zara Larsson, Astrid S, Maroon 5, SZA, and others through the years, and has been recognized in Sweden as a talented writer. English artist James TW is also known for soulful and emotional lyrics, with songs like “When You Love Someone”, and “You & Me”. Make sure to follow the social medias below to stay tuned for more work from both ELINA and James TW.