Boston indie-folk singer-songwriter Ren McLean unveils the title track of her forthcoming concept EP, Wildfire, turning the aftermath of a devastating breakup into something elemental.
According to McLean, “Every aspect of this song: writing it, recording it, filming it, was so cathartic and freeing. Even though the song is kinda dark and depressing, I had so much fun bringing it to life. The process helped me heal from the experience I wrote it about.”
The idea for “Wildfire” began with a line McLean typed into her notes app during a conversation more than two years ago: “I’d hate to burn down a bridge I just started to build.”
Several months after a painful breakup, McLean returned to that line and wrote the first song about the experience that felt fully truthful.
Using a forest fire as its main image, the song follows the shift from heartbreak to a harder truth: the relationship not only ended, but she also gave up parts of herself while trying to save it.
As McLean puts it, “I let this person take and take, losing everything that made me me in the process. So, when it all ended, I felt like I had been burned away with the relationship itself.”
The music follows the path of a fire. It starts quietly with McLean’s voice and fingerpicked acoustic guitar, then grows into a wild peak of electric guitars, drums, piano, mandolin, and shouted vocals. In the studio, the players were encouraged to “just go crazy” as they performed.
The sound then drops away almost at once. Only one lead voice remains, alone, solitary.
Since 2022, McLean has released nine singles, graduated from Berklee College of Music with a songwriting degree, and formed a six-person live band with close friends. She has performed at Boston venues such as the Red Room at Cafe 939, Sofar Sounds, and The Middle East.
“Wildfire” rolls out on a soft, luminous guitar topped by McLean’s gorgeously delicate voice. It’s one of those voices that’s at once crystalline, rich, and evocative. As gleaming, drifting instruments enter, the melody takes on escalating resonance, shimmering, slowly building to a wild crest. On the outro, McLean’s lone voice slowly diminishes.
On “Wildfire,” Ren McLean reaches deep into the secret dark corners of her soul and lays out all the emotions she finds.
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