Wytchwound – Don’t Make Me… (2025)
Wytchwound is the new persona of Scottish singer Eve Davidson, who has been perfecting her craft for the past few years. On ‘Don’t Make Me…’ she fully embraces her newly discovered darker sound, inspired by tales of women accused of witchcraft.
The song has a very folk-sounding opening with a lovely cascading acoustic guitar. Wytchwound sounds like Shirley Manson but with the power of Evanescence. Her Scottish twang really shines through in her vocals. The lyrics focus on darkness and despair: “Backed a lost cause / I’m running on stolen time / I’ve no idea the damage caused / I couldn’t bear to hear their cries / Don’t make me”. Wytchwound expands on the influences which compelled her to make the track:
“It tells the story of Margret Atkin, the so-called “Great Witch of Balwerie”, who, after being accused of witchcraft, turned on other women. I wrote the song to imagine her inner conflict and the guilt that might have haunted her. By the end, her voice fractures into a childlike cry of ‘don’t make me’ a haunting echo of innocence lost.“
‘Don’t Make Me…’ is a thrilling mixture of the light and heavy. On one hand, it is haunting folk, and then just as quickly, it becomes heavy rock. It tows the line between the quiet and the chaos. The electric guitars are thunderous, and from the second verse, they are offset by drums which sound like a marching band. The track enables Wytchwound to use folk grunge catharsis to navigate emotions such as grief and fury. It is clear that the meaning behind the song is just as important as the execution of the music. Wytchwound explains: “This song is a reflection of the guilt those who accused women of witchcraft may have felt.“
The music that Eve Davidson makes blends Scottish melancholy with grungey undertones. You can tell that she is heavily influenced by artists like Florence + The Machine. Last year’s ‘Monster In Me’ released in her own name is a beautifully dark tune with nice use of synths. Wytchwound has given us a tantalising taste of what’s to come with this new project on ‘Don’t Make Me…’, which makes you feel a whole range of emotions in just over two minutes.
