Richardine Bartee
If you’ve ever been in a relationship with someone and you’ve let your guard down, to be your full self with them, all you can do is hope that they’re doing the same with you. This song ‘Mind Games’ (stylised as ‘mind games’) by the sixteen-year-old singer REN isn’t about fairness in the least bit, though. It’s about when you’ve realised you are being undermined or treated like a fool. As the fresh-faced singer vocalises, they take up headspace.
Seemingly, the singer has a playful tit-for-tat take on it as the lyrics to the song reveal “they keep each other entertained”. The word “games” in “mind games” doesn’t always pan out if one of you aren’t playing. Moreover, unfortunately, if one of you aren’t strong enough, those “games” may affect someone for the rest of their life.
Back in September during Two Lewis and I’s event series at the Freehand Hotel in Manhattan, Ren performed. I didn’t get to see her live because of my trip to Australia, but I loved her voice from the first moment I heard it. Shout out to Riley Kirkwood, a man who always puts me onto the best new singer-songwriters from Canada!
