French duo Victor Solf and Simon Carpentier, aka Her, have released ‘Swim’. It marks the first taste of their upcoming six-track collection, Her Tape #2, which continues their musical explorations of love, relationships, women and feminism. ‘Swim’ in particular examines the maternal love between mother and child compared to physical love between romantic partners as a symbol for difference. The way that Solf sees it, “We’re living in troubled times marked by renewed violence, social regression and the rise of extremism. As artists, we wanted to put across a positive message, encouraging people to think differently and accept their own and others’ uniqueness.” They certainly manage to feed positivity into ‘Swim’, particularly in the chorus with its upbeat electronic guitar, maracas, handclaps and a woozy sustained synth inviting the listener to join them in this dance-worthy moment of unity. Far from being a pop song used to distract the masses from societal hardship, ‘Swim’ provides motivation to “swim against, against the tide; walk against, against the flow.” - HT