Rhys Captures the Ache of Growing Up in Poignant “Portland” Video and EP
Rhys unveils a stirring coming-of-age visual for Portland, the title track of her tender new EP. The song opens a deeply personal collection that includes Heathrow, Me in the Middle, What’s the Point of Crying, and All Blue—each track steeped in emotional honesty and raw reflection.
Originally from Oregon, Rhys moved to Sweden at age 10, a transition that brought culture shock and a lingering sense of displacement. These early experiences shaped her worldview and musical voice, infusing her songwriting with themes of identity, longing, and memory.
She describes Portland as an exploration of being emotionally stuck in the past, particularly in childhood. In revisiting those buried feelings, Rhys found the seeds for a beautifully organic EP—rooted in the earthy textures of indie-folk, yet expansive in its emotional reach.
The accompanying music video is as moving as the song itself. Spliced with nostalgic VHS footage from her childhood in Oregon, it brings a visual intimacy to the track’s themes. Rhys reflects on the passage of time and how everything in those old clips has changed—yet the yearning remains. That bittersweet nostalgia pulses through every frame and every note.
Sonically, Portland draws inspiration from the likes of Nick Drake and Brandi Carlile, with layered acoustic guitars and a dreamy, textured atmosphere that mirrors the haze of memory. Rhys’ vocals are quietly powerful—gentle yet commanding—elevated by subtle harmonies that underscore the song’s emotional core.
The lyricism is what truly sets the track apart. Rhys writes with clarity and feeling, capturing the universal experience of childhood places looming large in our memories—amplified by imagination and time. She distills this perfectly in the opening line: “In my mind – the hills here were so much bigger.”
As the Portland EP arrives, Rhys is also touring across Scandinavia, with shows in Stockholm—the city where she spent her teenage years. A rising voice in the indie-folk landscape, Rhys is proving herself to be a uniquely emotive songwriter with a talent for turning introspection into something quietly powerful. Her journey is just beginning—and it promises to be one worth following.
