Eerie, unsettling “Cement Mixer” dives into pain that demands empathy, not reassurance. Evelyn Gray’s new art-pop single tackles voice dysphoria with gut-punching efficiency and stunning beauty.

The opening offers the gentle sparkle of a “nature” relaxation track. It’s joined by vocals produced and enunciated to feel like the shape of sounds. The meaning is clear, yet the words sound artificial, constrained, clumsy. It’s a brilliant representation of feeling disconnected from and inauthentic with one’s voice.

Vocals rise and soar, pure and painful, into a torch song. The mordant irony here is how pain flows not from loss, but from inability to lose a definition of the past self.

Torch song segues into the cadence of a nursery rhyme. The rhythm evokes platitudes papered over pain; the lyrics repel them. The juxtaposition nails why reassurances from listeners are nice but not responsive. Centering feeling, in a way that cuts through societal noise, is one of Evelyn’s strengths.

“Cement Mixer” is a song to include in your playlists and sit with.