In her new song “Called You Out,” 24-year-old artist Tamzene sings about the pain of letting go of a friendship. She said that it is “a pretty sad, melancholic” song about the process of maturing and understanding that some people grow apart. The idea was born in one of the most challenging days of 2020 when the conflict over a Black Lives Matter post escalated to an unpleasant conversation with a friend. “We were texting back and forth, and I couldn’t believe what I was reading,” she says. “Finally, I had to call them because I understood that I can’t be an empathetic listener to a person who does not want to change.”
The track also goes back to her basics, and includes the piano accompaniment that has been characteristic of her works. While in lockdown at her family home in the Scottish Highlands, Tamzene was forced to look back to her roots. Working with Tobie Tripp, it became a new beginning song, combining the elements of traditional songwriting with the introspection. “I was listening to Randy Newman at the time,” she continues, “and the eternal, sad-sounding music was ideal for my state of mind.”