Music Review - Between Hurt and Healing: Fiona Amaka’s “Cowards and Shadows”

KMasters
Sep 18
2 min read

Some songs feel like they’re written in the middle of a conversation you might have with a friend over coffee. Fiona Amaka’s "Cowards and Shadows" lands in that space. It’s not dressed up in metaphor or overproduction—it speaks plainly about ghosting, a habit that’s slipped from dating into work, friendships, even casual exchanges. Everyone’s brushed up against it by now, which might explain why the song clicks the moment you hear it.

Fiona recorded the track in London with guitarist-producer Andy Zanini, but its life started earlier. She’d been trying it out at open mics in half-finished form, and people reacted right away. That’s always a telling sign. When an unfinished song resonates before it’s polished, chances are it holds something real.

Musically, Cowards and Shadows stays uncluttered. The arrangement gives her voice space to do the work. There’s a softness in how she sings “vanish like smoke,” but also an edge, like she’s weighing hurt against acceptance. That push and pull is where the song finds its weight. Instead of dramatizing the silence of ghosting, it settles into it, almost like breathing through the sting until it passes.

For Fiona, the release is another step in a busy year of shows around London. She and her band will play Cowards and Shadows at the Camden Weekender Festival in late August, and it’ll be interesting to see how the song shifts in a live setting. Sometimes a lyric that feels private on record grows communal in front of a crowd.

What’s striking is the balance: personal yet universal, simple but not slight. Cowards and Shadows doesn’t offer easy answers, and maybe that’s why it lingers. It doesn’t tell you what to feel—it just holds up a mirror to an experience almost everyone knows too well.

You can give a listen to “Cowards and Shadows” below and make sure you give a follow to stay tuned with Fiona Amaka’s future releases