“Anything Can’t Happen,” Dorothea Paas’ first single from her anticipated debut album of the same name, feels like a mantra, a reminder, and a revelation. The Ontario musician—who’s worked alongside Jennifer Castle, U.S. Girls, and Badge Époque Ensemble—explores the terrifying weight of trust. She reminds us that trust is important not only in our relationships with others, but in our commune with nature, and our patience with time. Trust can be as simple and essential as getting out of bed everyday.
“Will you ever trust me again?” Paas sings in the opening verse, her voice fluttery and light like Joni Mitchell’s. Tension builds as Paas never resolves the question. Drums pound in the background like distant thunder; a short, anxious guitar riff plays on a loop. The song’s tautness builds for a minute as Paas sings: “It’s so hard to trust / When you don’t even trust yourself.”
“These uncertainties remain in tension,” Paas says of the song. “I hope that this song facilitates some cathartic surrender to the fact that there is so much we can’t control or resolve. There is not only fear but also possibly hope in the idea that we don’t know what is coming.”
During “Anything Can’t Happen,” we have to confide in Paas for a release. For a moment, we’re afloat in murky waters. Then, a haze clears. Mid-song “Anything Can’t Happen” turns into a sturdy ’70s rock jam. Paas’ vocals are backed with a halo of harmonies, singing, “Anything can happen at any time.” In the paired visual she sings to the crashing waves of Niagara Falls, seemingly reveling in life’s possibilities.
Anything Can’t Happen is out May 7 on Telephone Explosion Records. Watch the video for the title track below.
