U.S. Girls - Rosebud

In the 1941 film Citizen Kane, called by many "The best film ever made", a group of journalists get obsessed trying to uncover the hidden meaning behind the last word pronounced by the multi-millionaire Charles Foster Kane: "Rosebud". A plot device in the film, the word acquired since a new meaning that relates it to that what it's more precious to ourselves, not because of the "thing" itself, but because of the emotional connections it carries.

Meg Remy uses that same metaphor to name her new single as U.S. Girls (which is, of course, ironic, since she is a Canadian solo artist), a song about taking a trip inside oneself to understand what are the things that make us unique. But this trip, unlike any Paolo Cohelo or Deepak Chopra book can suggest, it is not a trip to a zen and pleasant spot, Remy sings, like a mantra "It'll hurt, I promise you".

Being such a political artist, this track comes as a more philosophical and personal take in her catalogue, but it in an album that is so charged with the political fights of present days (from women's harassment to war invasions), Rosebud is a reminder that the first fixture we need to address is an interior one, and that our fight for human rights will be much more significant once we have come to terms with who we are and what we stand for.

This self-discovery trip might incur in some drastic changes in one's personality and style. Take Remy, for example, who might very well be telling us that her own personal rosebud might have to do with danceable disco music, since she's ditching her noise artsy sounds for a much more seductive beat, that however, is as complex and rich as her previous work.

As a whole, Rosebuds stands as a link between the political and the individual, as much as one between the old pop and the new alternative. U.S. Girls might be very well one of the projects that are reflecting the current social climate and discomfort in songs that are poignant, but that also are mastering the ricks to be intensely appealing for wider audiences.