Drawing on Scars with Jodie Reid – Single Review: “Take It”

Music collaborations between artists seem to be more popular than ever, especially with recording and production technology that makes long-distance collaborations possible. A fine example is the new single “Take It” by Atlanta-based music project Drawing on Scars and South African singer-songwriter Jodie Reid. It’s their third collaboration together, following “Here Comes Some More” in November 2020, and their haunting single “If Only for a Little While”, released this past April.

Drawing on Scars is the creative brainchild of songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Will Thacker, who for the past decade has collaborated with vocalists from across the U.S. and beyond in the creation of superb alternative rock songs. Generally, Thacker writes and performs all the music, and the different vocalists write the lyrics, which they then interpret in their own distinct style. The result is an ever-changing music repertoire that always sounds fresh and unique. Since 2019, Drawing on Scars has dropped nine singles, the latest of which is “Take It”. I’ve previously reviewed two of them, “Rewrite” and “Pressure”, which you can check out by clicking on the links under ‘Related’ at the bottom of this post.

Jodie Reid has had music in her blood since childhood, writing her first song at the age of 12 and playing her first live performance while in college, where she earned a Bachelor of Arts degree with honours in Music Performance in 2018. With her strong songwriting and emotive vocal style firmly planted in a sweet spot between a pleasing lilt and impassioned wail, the Johannesburg-based artist has garnered accolades and a growing base of fans. In just two years, she’s already released three albums, most recently Robust Rebellion in July, for which Thacker performed the bass and drum parts.

“Take It” is about choices, namely the difficulty of having to decide which is the better option or road to take, which can sometimes become a paralyzing burden on both yourself as well as those around you. Reid, who wrote the lyrics, elaborates: “‘Take It’ is about a person’s inability to choose a course of action; wanting the best of both worlds but lumbering along without direction. It explores the effects of indecisiveness in close relationships and was inspired by the phrase ‘one lump or two?’ commonly used when a host is offering their guests beverages.”

The song blasts open with a barrage of scorching riffs and pummeling rhythms, before catching its breath as Reid’s vocals enter the proceedings. Sounding a bit like Paramore’s Haley Williams, she ruefully sings “Limp in as I struggle to lift the weight that your shoulders seem to carry, just by your indecisiveness. One lump or two? Given time I just might erase the burden that you bear, or maybe I’ll just yell in frustration waiting for you to choose.” Thacker’s a fine musician, and his hard-driving jagged riffs and chugging rhythms return with full force in the choruses as Reid passionately implores “Oh, tell me how do you take it? When you can’t decide which road you’re going down? Oh, tell me now do you fake it? When someone’s trying too hard to figure you out? One lump or two?”

It’s a powerful rock banger, and with three very different but equally outstanding singles to their credit, Drawing on Scars and Jodie Reid make a highly successful dream team. I hope they’ll continue to collaborate together on many more songs.