This song, “Just a Handful” by Ali Wick, shares those complicated, all too familiar feelings that hit when you’re losing someone important to you and you don’t know how to hang on. Whether it’s just after the breakup, or during that stage where the breakup is inevitable, sometimes you’re stuck in that space of loving that person but knowing you have to move on. With lyrics like “I can’t risk asking for more than you can give,” and “I wish I didn’t have to drag you into loving me,” Ali Wick pins down exactly what it’s like to know that you’re in this relationship more than the other person. It hurts, and it can be difficult to realize, but sometimes you have to just let go.
“Just a Handful” is an understated, emotional ballad that relies on beautiful piano and smooth vocals to tell its story. Starting off with just a simple piano melody, you’re drawn into the song slowly, caught up already when Wick starts singing the soft first verse. The chorus picks up the pace a little bit, adding in some new textures to the instrumental. The second verse keeps this up, with a hazy effect in the background that adds a new depth to the emotions in Wick’s voice. The bridge breaks up the pattern, but keeps the same heartfelt power that’s threaded throughout the whole song.
Ali Wick is an up-and-coming singer/songwriter based in Toronto and Calgary. Originally born in Montana, she attended the University of Alberta, and also briefly lived in Mexico as well as South America to work for Canadian embassies. She’s worked in product development, marketing, and more, but has always wanted to work with music since she fell in love with it as a child. She released an EP in 2022, Baja Sessions, while working at the artist residency Hotel El Ganzo in California, and is releasing another EP, Sobbing at the Squat Rack, later this year. Use the links below to explore more of her music!
Written By Morgan Fischer
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