Easy On Your Own?

"Easy on Your Own?" is a single by Canadian indie pop band Alvvays, released on August 10, 2022 via Polyvinyl. The song is the second single and second track from Blue Rev (2022).^[2]

"Easy on Your Own?"
Single by Alvvays
from the album Blue Rev
Released	August 10, 2022
Genre	Dream pop indie rock shoegaze
Length	2:54
Label	Polyvinyl Transgressive
Songwriter(s)	Alvvays
Producer(s)	Shawn Everett[1]
Alvvays singles chronology
"Pharmacist" (2022) "Easy on Your Own?" (2022) "Belinda Says" (2022)

Composition and lyrics

"Easy on Your Own?" is a dream pop,^[3][4] indie rock^[4] and shoegaze^[4][5] song. The track uses audio feedback,^[4] distortion,^[1] and the glide guitar technique.^[3] Molly Rankin's vocals are low in the mix compared to the instrumental.^[3]

Publications vary on their interpretation of the lyrics. According to Stereogum, the lyrics of "Easy on Your Own?" are about "feeling disaffected and worrying about the future",^[6] while Paste said they "describe a long-term relationship so damaged, it might not be worth saving".^[3] Later, in Paste's review of Blue Rev, they wrote the track "neatly blurs the lines between a floundering relationship and the drudgery of our current times".^[7] According to Consequence, the lyrics are about "[working] through a breakup".^[4] Using the title, Uproxx interpreted the lyrics as Rankin asking if life gets "easier on [her] own".^[8] According to Exclaim, the track is an "absolutely devastating account of the aimlessness of early adulthood".^[9] According to The Skinny, on the lyrics, Rankin is "wondering aloud whether she is moving through life or life moves around her".^[10]

Pitchfork highlighted the following line from the lyrics, since it is representative of one of Blue Rev's themes: "I dropped out / College education's a dull knife / If you don't believe in the lettered life / Then maybe this is our only try."^[11] Loud and Quiet highlighted the line "crawling in monochromatic hallways" since it exemplifies the lyrics' strong imagery.^[12]

Reception

Stereogum described the track as "fuzzy and satisfyingly blown-out".^[6] Paste compared the track to My Bloody Valentine, and praised its complex textures and conciseness.^[3]The Fader described the track as a "richly melodic pop jam," and said it sounds darker than the first single, "Pharmacist".^[13] According to The Skinny, the track is "peak Rankin".^[10] TheNeedleDrop said Rankin's vocals sound "more impassioned" than they were on Antisocialites.^[14]: 1:41