N.S. musicians search for saddest songs in annual competition

Natalie Costello, right, won the Battle of the Sads in 2023. (Source: Facebook/Doktor Luke's - a respectable coffee house)

Alicia Penney is drawn to sad music — songs that tackle the darker and more depressing shades of the emotional spectrum — but she understands it might not be a genre that everyone wants to hear at a live performance.

“When I’m playing gigs sometimes and you play a sad song, not everyone’s into it,” Penney said. “Oftentimes you feel like you’re ruining their night.

“I had this brainwave where we had an event where everyone knew what they were getting into.”

Penney took that burgeoning idea and transformed it into the long-running annual Battle of the Sads in Sydney, N.S. Musicians duke it for sad song supremacy, aiming to draw out applause and tears from the audience in equal measure.

To emphasize the sadness, Penney hosts the event in the dead of winter just a few days removed from Valentine’s Day.

“It’s a special event because the atmosphere is surprisingly fun,” Penney said. “February is obviously the saddest month of the year and it’s the peak of my seasonal depression. I try to do it as close to Valentine’s as possible because I know people are sad on Valentine’s.”

The audience picks the winner of the sadness showdown. So what pushes a song — whether it be an original or a cover — into the upper echelon of tear-jerkers? Penney said it’s a combination of personal subject and earnest performance.

“The themes that tend to win are losing people you love, they tend to be songs that are personal and heartfelt for the performers,” Penney said. “When I started it, it was a fun idea but there’s a part of the human experience with loss and heartbreak and there’s something about making music about it that’s important. It helps people work through their emotions and thoughts.”

Molly Babin is one of the performers who worked through difficult emotions with the Battle of the Sads. She won in 2022 for performing a song about a friend who lost a son.

“That’s what was needed that year,” Babin said. “It’s cathartic for sure, putting huge feelings like grief into words is a great mental exercise rather than having them bounce around in your head. It helps solidify them as an object rather than something in your mind.

“I love songwriting and other people’s performances because you get to see what’s in the inside and sadness tends to be one of those raw emotions. A sad song is a vulnerable thing so I find it really beautiful and brave.”

Jennifer MacDonald wrote a sad country song for last year’s Battle of the Sads, but she couldn’t make it to the event so she’s hoping to bring it out this year.

“I really just tried to draw from old sad country songs I knew,” MacDonald said. “What made me able to do it was I had a purpose in doing it.

“I have a soft spot for (sad music), it doesn’t ask you to feel better and a lot of things do in our lives. You don’t have to pretend with it and there’s a song for it. There’s a song for everything and that’s what I love about music.”

The winner of the competition will receive a handmade trophy and a chance to record their song at Soundpark Studios. The event will also raise funds for Caper Radio, the local campus radio station.

The Battle of the Sads will start at 6 p.m. at Doktor Luke’s on Prince Street on Feb. 17.

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