My Personal Comfort Artist (and maybe yours now too?)
Introducing Sydney Ross Mitchell
If indie music is a party, I’m the girl taking you around the room introducing you to all the cool kids. Today’s cool kid is Sydney Ross Mitchell.
If you’ve been subscribed for a minute, you’ve almost certainly heard me mention that name before. With her soothing vocals, viscerally relatable lyrics, and gorgeous blend of folk, pop, and rock influences, Sydney Ross Mitchell is my personal comfort artist.
When I’m angry, upset, anxious, lonely, or nursing a headache, I reach for Sydney, and especially her debut ep, Pure Bliss Forever.
Sydney Ross Mitchell’s musical journey has taken her from her hometown to Texas, to Nashville, back to Texas for a formal education in audio engineering, and then to her current home base in LA.
Her sound reminds me occasionally of Gracie Abrams, sometimes of the 1975, and a little of Taylor Swift, specifically TTPD era. She’s found her sweet spot in what she calls Folk Dream Pop.
I get high on telling lies like I’m a lover
“Forward To The Kill” was my introduction to the world of Sydney Ross Mitchell. The dreamy, understated production existed somewhere in between pop and rock, with her mellow vocals floating effortlessly along.
“And all my fear that you might hurt me is replaced with knowing just how bad you will/I’m looking forward to the kill.” —Forward To The Kill
It’s a vibe I like to call “comfortable melancholy”. It’s the perfect soundtrack for rainy days, long car rides, and the lonely musings of the average overdramatic poet.
“Sometimes I dream I’m in the arms of a tin man/he calls me “bunny”, he says he loves me, but I know he can’t” —Bunny
Maybe I’m crazy
Sydney Ross Mitchell released her debut EP, “Pure Bliss Forever” in October of 2024.
It would be the first release since April’s “The Tortured Poets Department” to fully capture my attention and temporarily ruin other music for me.
“Everyone loves me in this room/but I can’t take my eyes off of you” —Wherever We’re Going
Sydney Ross Mitchell specializes in the balance between tender loneliness and candidly brutal desire. She’s a romantic in the old sense of the word: the kind of romanticism that consumes you.
“My heart is a bloodhound/I sink my teeth into you and I can’t pull em back out” —My Heart Is A Bloodhound
Her indie rock side comes out a bit more with songs like “Wherever We’re Going” and “My Heart Is A Bloodhound”, and earlier tracks like “He’s So Blonde”.
One thing Sydney’s music will never be is apologetic. It’s a world defined by messy cravings and tender sensuality.
I wanna see heaven in the long and lonely life
The crowning jewel of Sydney Ross Mitchell’s discography is “Fast Cars and Faster Horses”. This song is a masterclass in her signature Folk Dream Pop sound. Sydney’s skilled at blending her country roots and contemporary pop influences into this unique style, and nowhere does it shine more than in “Fast Cars and Faster Horses”.
If I could only listen to one bridge for the rest of my life, it would be the bridge to “Fast Cars and Faster Horses”.
“I hope I feel it before I die/I wanna see heaven in the long and lonely life.” —Fast Cars and Faster Horses
Sydney’s skilled at imagery and metaphor, something that shines through in nearly every song. From the spider in the jar in “The Sting” to her bloodhound heart, she chooses lyrics that make you see things in a whole new light.
“You drop a spider in a jar/you’re afraid of everything/too good to take its life/and too cruel to set free/and I hate to think that, that’s all we’ll ever be” —The Sting
The EP as a whole is a thesis on desire, the chaos of human connections, and the search for meaning on this side of death. She wraps it up with the title track, “Pure Bliss Forever”.
I’m a sucker for a song with any kind of unusual lyrical structure, so that was one of the first things that struck me about this song. The song is mostly chorus, building as Sydney wrestles with the prospect of letting go. Framing the sheer emotion is the refrain that begins and ends the song.
“I want pure bliss forever/I want heaven on earth/I wanted you, for whatever that’s worth.” — Pure Bliss Forever
I just wanna do it again
Sydney Ross Mitchell’s most recent release “Do It Again” is quintessential SRM: it’s simple, provocative, and blends a country edge with dreamy pop.
When she first started teasing it, the line “I wanna kiss you in French” leapt out to me. It’s so simple, yet so clever. Sydney has a lot of lyrics that have me thinking, “why didn’t I think of that?”
At this moment, Sydney Ross Mitchell is continuing to tease her next singles on social media. What’s next for her? Another EP, maybe a full-length album?
It remains to be seen, but one thing is clear: if Sydney Ross Mitchell has 0 fans, I’m dead. I try not to let these articles devolve into pure fangirling, but I’ve had her discography shuffled while writing this, and, even now, she blows me away.
If you like genre fusing singer-songwriters, melancholy soundscapes, and lyrics that hurt so good, give Sydney Ross Mitchell a listen.