Chicago indie-rock band, Burr Oak, has just released the first single, “Rainclouds”, off their upcoming EP, Annabelle. Songwriter, Savanna Dickhut, began Burr Oak five years ago after recovering from a devastating breakup and later included drummer and co-songwriter, Tony Mest, guitarist, Kevin Sheppard, and bassist, Meredith Nesbitt onto the project. Since the release of their debut album, Late Bloomer, Burr Oak has been praised for their frank and direct lyricism and related to the sounds of Adrianne Lenker of Big Thief and Katie Crutchfield of Waxahatchee. 

“Rainclouds” is giving fans an initial look into the story behind Annabelle, which follows a character of the same name and her experiences in Texas after Roe v. Wade was overturned. In Annabelle’s five tracks, we will follow Annabelle’s journey, starting with a toxic relationship, emotional abuse, and an unexpected pregnancy in “Rainclouds”. On the single and EP, songwriter Savanna shares, “We wrote this EP to shed light on the controversial subject of Roe V. Wade being overturned and the people affected by it, specifically through our character Annabelle. In turn, we hope that creating such a character will speak to the fact that many people out in the world today have suffered greatly since then, in states such as Texas where our story takes place and where it is illegal to get an abortion.” 

Savanna uses her personal experiences to fuel her emotionally driven lyricism and evokes delicate vocals to deliver a difficult, but very real, experience that many women are facing in modern day America. “Rainclouds” is the metaphor to these building feelings that are ready to give out at any moment. It’s devastating yet fiery, and filled with spirit; exactly how we imagine our fictional character is feeling during their relationship. The release of “Rainclouds” will be accompanied by a music video to give us our first peek into Annabelle’s life. Working with Buoy Films, the visual has already been nominated for “Best Music Video” at the ISFF Awards and has won “Best Drama Music Video” at the Munich Music Video Awards. 

Burr Oak is known to always be changing and evolving, thus giving us Annabelle as the beginning of their new direction. Annabelle is scheduled for release in August and will continue the story of Burr Oak’s fictional character and further convey the emotions that surround the indefinite battle between Roe V. Wade and the United States government.