At some point, every pop artist decides to write a song that sounds like drowning, but in a beautiful way. “Dry Land” by Songbird takes that literally. It’s a ballad about sharks. Yes, actual sharks. And also metaphorical ones. The kind that don’t circle in open water, but in your inbox, your ex’s brain, or somewhere just behind your own eyes at 3AM.
The songwriter Songbird uses aquatic obsession as a stand-in for every toxic situation you can’t quite swim away from. It’s all very cinematic: ghostly piano, soft-focus synths, the kind of vocals that sound like they’re being sung from the bottom of a lake while staring at the surface. “Dry Land” doesn’t just ask if you’ll make it out alive; it questions whether land was ever real in the first place.
What’s impressive here is how tightly the metaphor holds. Songbird isn’t trying to be clever about pain; they’re just being correct. Whether it’s about a relationship gone predatory or the slow undertow of your own thoughts, the emotional logic tracks. This is less “pop anthem” and more “emotional shipwreck” you happen to want to replay.
If you’ve ever cried to a Florence Welch bridge or stared at the ceiling while Billie Eilish whispered something slightly too true, “Dry Land” belongs on that playlist. It doesn’t promise resolution. It offers recognition. A strange, shimmering kind of honesty that says: yes, something’s pulling you under, but you’re still breathing.
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About the Author
A tenured media critic known working as a ghost writer, freelance critic for publications in the US and former lead writer of Atop The Treehouse. Reviews music, film and TV shows for media aggregators.
