Wilder Music

By Celina di Meola.

There’s something quietly seismic about “Fight Back”, the latest release from Zara Smile. Built around feelings of imposter syndrome and the restless ache of not-enoughness, the track plays like a piece of inner dialogue pushed to the edge – delivered not as a whisper, but as a warning siren from someone trying to stay upright mid-collapse.

Their voice, somewhere between confessional singer-songwriter and defiant bandleader, cuts through with a gentle steadiness. It’s a voice that, like Lizzy McAlpine’s, holds its strength in restraint, but where McAlpine might pause, Zara pushes forward, chasing the crescendo. The arrangement mirrors that urgency. Strings dart and swell, brass lines erupt like stress peaking. The rhythm unmoors itself; time signatures slip sideways, creating a sense of instability that never fully resolves.

About halfway through, a violin line surfaces – a shape that gestures toward traditional Celtic folk. It doesn’t last long, but it roots the track in something older, a musical inheritance humming just beneath the orchestral frenzy. Whether conscious or accidental, it lends “Fight Back” a haunting texture, like folklore tangled up in a panic dream.

What makes the song remarkable isn’t just its emotional weight, but the way it refuses to smooth it out. There’s no epiphany here, no resolution. Instead, Zara leans into the mess – constructing a sonic architecture out of overwhelm, frustration, and quiet resistance. The result is a song that doesn’t plead to be understood – it insists on being felt.