Rebecca Karpen - ‘23’ Review: A reassuring guiding light for abuse, injustice and isolation
Detailing an abusive past from a mentor during college, 23 is a window into the world of abuse in schools and acts as a reassuring guiding light for anyone who may be in a similar position.
★★★★★★★★☆☆
Credit: Tyler Clark 📸
NYC-based singer-songwriter, Rebecca Karpen frees herself of a traumatic past with new track 23. Released fittingly on 23rd April 2024, it’s a beautifully written letter to herself, her abuser and the world through the power of soft acoustic melodies.
Rebecca has been releasing music since 2018 when she self-released the Highway Gods and Aliens EP. Over the years, it seems music has been an escape for the upcoming young artist, now writing more sincerely than ever on 23.
With inspirations like Billy Joel, Taylor Swift and Joni Mitchell, 23 puts you at a crossroads of emotion, where you go next is down to how you find yourself connecting with the authentic lyricism. It’s an impressively emotive track filled with vivid, heartbreaking and provocative soul.
Detailing an abusive past from a mentor during college, the track is an eye-opening window into the world of abuse of power in schools and acts as a reassuring guiding light for anyone who may be in a similar position. As the narrative unfolds, there’s a clear maturity as the artist looks back:
‘I know my record isn't clean
Painted them as you, I wanted you to be
But fantasies are commonplace for girls of nineteen’
There’s more to breakdown and de-construct than you may first expect, with clever and thoughtful wordplay and structure in every line.
‘My best friends don’t believe me’ is perhaps the simplest but strongest line throughout the entirety, only highlighting the isolation Karpen would’ve felt.
While we may not share the specific experiences the song is derived from, we find ourselves finding closure in our own injustices. To say Rebecca’s songwriting is powerful is an understatement for an artist this early on in her career.
Fresh artists with tracks like this don’t come out of nowhere. We sat down with Rebecca to understand how she fell into music and her background:
“When I was younger, I had terrible, incapacitating social anxiety. I talked a lot but I was incredibly shy. There weren't many things about me that people could respect or willingly pay attention to, and I found myself pretty lonely.
I’m from a musical family, everyone on my father's side played instruments and my Dad was a semi-professional French Hornist. Bearing this in mind, it was super important to him that my sister and I had a musical education, so we both started piano and vocal lessons.
Singing became an escape for me because it was the one thing I knew I was good at, and it was the one thing that would cause my peers to respect me and give that positive attention. As I got older, I found myself even more lonely and frustrated that no one really listened to a word I said. So, I started using my voice to talk about my feelings. I began spending hours locking myself away in practice rooms and teaching myself guitar and ukulele so I had an outlet that would allow me to feel comfortable speaking about my emotions to other people.
Songwriting eventually bled into my overall confidence and I found myself having an easier time building community and speaking my mind without needing the seatbelt of musical accompaniment.”
:: Round-Up ::
23 is a visceral unveiling behind the curtains of abuse in schools, with the confidence to take back control of everything in your life. However you may resonate, one thing is for sure, you’ll never find yourself so empowered to make a change.
Now, it’s your turn. Give it a spin, and tell us what you think on Insta or X.
Rating: 8/10
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