Entropy
Telling you about my song, 'Entropy' through quotes from reviews/interviews with music blogs/magazines. Paid subscribers get to hear and download 'Entropy (Acoustic)'!
A Thermodynamic Process
Writing, recording, producing, mixing, releasing, and promoting a song is a process; and my latest song is about a thermodynamic process called ‘Entropy’. I’m not a physicist, so I’m sheepish about talking too much about the concept’s scientific roots, and I wrote the song over a year ago, so I’ve already said so many things about it, and I’m growing tired of repeating myself. Therefore in this post, I will use blurbs from music bloggers and my own words in interviews to flesh out this song a little more.
This Spell of Entropy
“The song takes its conceptual anchor from the Second Law of Thermodynamics, using entropy as both scientific principle and metaphor. In physics, closed systems trend toward disorder; here, that drift is mapped onto a contemporary emotional landscape shaped by geopolitical instability and the uneasy sense of powerlessness that accompanies it. The result is less a literal translation than a sustained analogy between natural law and social fracture.”
—Excerpt from Avola Magazine’s review of the song
We’re Circling Catastrophe
“What drew you to the Second Law of Thermodynamics as a metaphor, and how does it connect to your view of today’s world?
I was drawn to quantum physics because I couldn’t make sense of the world. It’s not that I believed that quantum physics held the answers, but my curiosity led me there — to the relationship between matter and time. Why do people continue to support politicians who are clearly lying to them? Why does a democratic society elect a tyrant to rule over them? Why do people adopt every new technology that comes down the pipeline rather than questioning the impact it has on their fellow human beings or the future of their planet? I tried to make rational sense of the arguments of people with whom I disagree, and I continue to struggle to see anything so compelling in them that would warrant what we’re experiencing right now: more wars, more inflation, more civil division, more social distrust, more disconnection. How is anyone happy about this, outside of the handful of people who hold the majority of the power and wealth? The concept of entropy as outlined in the Second Law of Thermodynamics doesn’t explain it, but it certainly resonates with how I feel about all of this.”
—Excerpt from my interview with The Interviewist
Particles Move in Every Way
“What was the inspiration behind the cover artwork for ‘Entropy?’
I released a song in January called “Complexity,” and it is about how the computer age has made life increasingly complex; it felt so appropriate to use a 1988 Macintosh computer in the artwork for that song, because to me, that specific computer represents the beginning of this extra-complicated age. Then when I was working on “Entropy,” I wanted to tie the two songs together, partly because they share a similar theme, and partly because they are both stylistic departures from the rest of my music. I wanted to photograph the same scene, but staged to look like a post-entropy state. My husband snapped the photos for each on his iPhone and then edited them in Photoshop (he did such a great job!).”
—Excerpt from my interview with MEI News
It Feels Like Bondage to Decay
“I never think about entropy this way: someone grabs it from quantum physics, uses it in a song, then points it straight at the chaos around us and makes the whole weird world stop for a second. What chaos? Look around. Wars keep going, power protects itself, and the rest of us scroll, stuck somewhere between anger and burnout… I like how Allie gets right into it. ‘What starts out neat, ends in a mess / A thermodynamic process’ – or how the law of nature screams a hard truth, when logical order goes to hell and control just follows.”
—Excerpt from Groover City’s review of the song
If We Could Stop This Slide Toward Entropy
“The track trades earthy textures for weaving distorted acoustics, pulsing arpeggios and eerie theremin lines into an otherworldly landscape. It’s a deliberate shift here that mirrors the song’s central idea: the inevitable slide from order into disorder. Drawing on the scientific principle of entropy, she reframes it as a reflection of modern unease; that sense of watching the world unravel without the power to intervene. The result is a track that feels both intellectual and deeply emotional, balancing complex ideas with instinctive songwriting.”
—Excerpt from Lock Magazine’s review of the song
Space and Time Move Toward Their Destiny
“Imagine Early Coldplay meets Muse, Daft Punk with Lana del Rey’s vocals in thrilling post-pop, pulsating soundscape!… Allie Crummy approaches her music with a broader, philosophical lens… Her latest, ‘Entropy’ opens without a moment’s waste onto deep dreamy piano tones and pulsating synth beats. It evokes a larger than life, cinematic energy… Allie’s soft, emotional croons, balanced with emotion and restraint is what make this a piercing, compelling listen. Swelling, crescendoing harmonies elevate the emotional tone and intensity to an almost blinding, euphoric level. Where the heart meets healing and dares to remain hopeful.”
—Excerpt from Indie Music Flex’s review of the song
But Who Could Undo?
“She weaves it in with life and how it manifests there while still involving a kind of sci-fi aesthetic. There’s a lot of blooming synths that are underpinned with experimental electronic motifs that make it feel alienic. And her vocals, drifting, floating dreamily above this space, light and full of a comforting illumination. It is retro but modern, kind of familiar, yet stimulatingly novel.”
—Excerpt from Apollo’s Harp’s review of the song
And You—What Can You Do?
“A lot of what is animating my emotions [in writing songs for my upcoming album, ‘For Love of Carbon Based Life’], is data centers and the implication on drinking water [and air quality] for the people who live near them… We’ve talked [earlier in this interview] about the other implications of AI and how it can be really damaging person-to-person and on a society level; but also just on a very practical level: this technology doesn’t just fall out of thin air. It’s going to compete with human life, animal life, and plant life for resources. And I don’t have a neutral stance on that. If we’re in competition with these data centers and these supercomputers—if we feed and provide water for carbon-based lifeforms or whatever this is—all day long, I pick the carbon-based life.”
—Excerpt from my video interview with Heartstrings Podcast
[Instrumental Interlude]
“The song features unique elements like theremin lines, distorted acoustic guitars, and a deliberately “tricky” melodic lead. How did you approach crafting these textures to make listeners both feel and think?
The things you brought up are the most defining elements of the song, and they’re also good examples of the collaborative effort behind “Entropy”. For the distorted acoustics, I used rubber bridge acoustic guitars because they’re more percussive, and I pushed them really hot on my preamp and my compressor, so the distortion and over-compression you hear on them is all analog and not digital. I left a blank space for the lead line when I came into the studio. I could have sat down and composed a melody that was “cerebral and science-y” on my own, but it worked a lot better to have that idea filter through someone else’s brain and creativity. I told Bryan those two words, he fiddled with a couple lines, and then he and I went back and forth with tweaks until we had something that felt right. It was his idea to add the Kaoss pad to the electric, and it was my idea to double that line on the piano — things that again, brought cohesion between a futuristic sound and a rooted organic one. The theremin lines going into/ out of the chorus were my idea, but the theremin itself is his; they required so much editing because it was my first time ever playing a theremin and — surprise! — I haven’t caught the hang of it yet. Luckily, post-production is my jam.”
—Another excerpt from my interview with The Interviewist
Where Will You Spend Your Energy?
“What do you hope fans take away from “Entropy” and your music in general?
That we really aren’t powerless; we don’t have to sit idly by while the world falls apart. As long as we are alive, we have energy coursing through our bodies — and we can choose where we direct that energy. My strong plea is that people would direct their energy toward that which adds to the beauty and which is life-giving for humanity and for all forms of life on our planet.”
—Another excerpt from my interview with MEI News
Listen to “Entropy” wherever you stream music (Spotify, Bandcamp, etc), and watch the music video on YouTube!
Paid Subscribers Only: ‘Entropy (Acoustic')’
Paid subscribers will get to hear and download an acoustic version of Entropy—hot off the press!! I realized that I didn’t include a downloadable song in April, so I’ve also included a downloadable version of Entropy for paid subscribers below as well. If you aren’t a paid subscriber, please join in the fun! For $50/year, you’ll get access to a free song download each month, among other great things.