Sarah Katherine Lawless Finds Community in the Situationship in “Make it make sense (feat. Ava McCoy) [stripped]”

Sarah Katherine Lawless’ ground-up reimagining of her 2024 release, “make it make sense,” turns the track from what once was an angry, confrontational call-out into a quiet train of thought. Lawless embarked on a complete sonic restructuring of the song, even calling in fellow songwriter Ava McCoy to add fresh vocals, impressively transforming it into “Make it make sense (feat. Ava McCoy) [stripped]” without the altering of any lyrics.

As Lawless puts it, the song represents “the chaos, confusion, and inherent lack of communication that comes with a situationship.” Through Sarah Katherine’s complete re-arranging and re-recording of the song, she expresses this feeling through new acoustic instrumentation and vocals. While her perspective is clear in the original track, it takes on a deeper meaning when slowed down. Ultimately, through these two versions, we learn that sadness and anger tend to go hand in hand.

For Lawless, there’s sadness behind the anger. “Having the initial track express that rage was important, but I always thought this song lived as a slower ballad. I always felt like it was a coming to terms with the sad inevitable. It allows you to let the lyrics breathe giving you the ability to hear the true sorrow that comes with the end of a relationship (if it ever was one to begin with).”

Unfortunately, situationships in 2025 are not a rarity, and having a second vocal from Ava McCoy, brings attention to the “universal feeling” presented in the song. “I felt like it would hit more if i could have someone else’s voice on it as well,” Lawless explained, “Who better than a songwriter I admire so so much, Ava McCoy.”

Listen to “make it make sense (feat. Ava McCoy) [stripped]” below: