Allyson Whitmell’s “Crack in My Window” arrived in my inbox, and honestly, my first thought was, “Is this the soundtrack to a particularly poignant cat food commercial?” But then, of course – because life loves a good plot twist – it wasn’t.

It is, in reality, Whitmell taking a swan dive into the murky waters of nostalgia, grief, and that weird feeling you get when you realize the chipped paint on your childhood windowsill held more emotional significance than your last three tax returns. Collaborating with Jono Hill and Ben Pelchat, the Canadian singer-songwriter gives us a single saturated in cinematic strings and, of all things, the potent aroma of goodbye. It’s pop, yes, but filtered through the lens of someone who probably knows the exact emotional weight of a single, perfectly placed diminished chord.

The central theme here is a trap. A cage with a familiar view. Ever read “Waiting for Godot”? Whitmell seems to get that existentialist dilemma. She’s staring at that crack in the window, which suddenly takes a very meta shape, like a shattered mirror reflecting where we have been, feeling all the feels about leaving a place – or maybe a thing, or a person – even when that place smells faintly of mothballs and regret.

The piano is her anchor, sure, but it’s the solo violin that genuinely slices through the neat, pretty packaging. This isn’t some grand, sweeping gesture; this is like the precise cut that sets you free. Like that part in that old movie when it is finally time to step outside and face whatever monster is lurking.

It leaves you pondering: if our memories were physical objects, would we be hoarders? Or minimalists in emotional form?

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