Like many, local musician Brit TseWole’s life circumstances were completely uprooted in 2020. She had already put in the work finding a band and breaking into the Lowell music scene after moving there from Sri Lanka in 2017. Then the coronavirus pandemic hit: “We as a band couldn’t meet to practice or play so we took a hiatus,” she said of her former band, The Seawolves. “Nonetheless, at the time, I couldn’t stop creating and started my new journey alone.” Thank goodness she didn’t.
“Why?” is the latest in a string of singles and small EPs released by TseWole under the pseudonym Senseless Optimism. Packed with a jazzy chord progression, bouncy drum grooves, and a smartly simplistic chorus, “Why?” leaves worries of a sad summer behind. Instead, Senseless Optimism embraces the melancholic feelings of a recent breakup: “I felt as if my world was crashing in on me (as it was entirely unexpected). I wrote this song as a reminder to myself that there are better days ahead,” a sentiment expressed in lyrics like “Feeling like there’s something wrong / putting on my makeup / to hide what / I hold inside.”
The track’s clear jazz influence paired with Senseless Optimism’s lower range is reminiscent of Amy Winehouse and Nina Simone. The chanting of the song’s titular word during choruses, the crescendo of synth from chorus to verse, and lyrics like “A piece of glass in my underwear,” all help convey a shared emotional journey. The bridge then comes and releases any and all emotional tension built up: “On my way / to better days / and maybe there I’ll stay.” The song pauses its unabating drive to hang in a moment of tranquility; a promise of better times, paired with gentle cymbal swells, ringing chimes, and hanging chords.
“It Gets Better”: a mantra found stamped across most of Senseless Optimism’s social media pages. Fittingly, “Why?” is yet another song in her ever-growing catalogue to emphasize finding silver linings in everyday pain. She quotes her parents saying, “Every disappointment is a blessing.” Indeed, it’s a blessing TseWole found her solo project in the midst of a pandemic. And as long as there’s more music to come, things will absolutely continue to get better.