SSAANN – Above It

Milwaukee quartet SSAANN are back on Broken Palace, the label behind Stray Fossa and Siiieee____. After “Wade” landed here in Week 46 last year, “Above It” picks up in that same sweet spot between sleepy and alive.

Melissa Simes wrote the music and lyrics, handling vocals, synths, and guitar. The synths do the heavy lifting here, shifting from soft background texture to full focal points across the track. Tommy Behan plays drums and produced the song, with Jacob “Beanboi” Henbest on mixing and Justin Perkins mastering.

The song is about letting go and moving forward. “I wrote it as advice to comfort others, but I quickly realized that this piece is also a reminder for myself”, Simes said. That dual purpose comes through in the lyrics — lines like “leave it in the past, you don’t need it” and “look, the horizon / you’ll be there soon” work as both reassurance to someone else and a note to self.

As poppy as it is arty, and as personal as it is universal.