Long time readers will know that I’ve often been an advocate for the idea that sometimes less is more. This is true in all media, and in wide variety of situations. In horror we’re more scared of the unknown than by what is right in front of us, for a mystery to work you need to keep details obscured until just the right moment, and in music the empty space between notes is just as important as the notes themselves. This philosophy manifests in a couple of different ways on ‘little things’. Firstly the band/artist sym fera in the first place; one of the most mysterious submissions I’ve ever received. With little more than a monochrome symbol to go on, this act lets the music do all the talking. ‘Little Things’ takes full advantage of this as it slowly and purposefully says its piece. With the melancholic piano melody, soft choral hums and little splashes of orchestration all striking out before fading into the void, you get a grand sense of scale from the lightest of touches. It’s like a single candle flickering in a vast inky abyss beckoning you to come closer. This dramatic slow burner pulls you in step by step, building up tension and anticipation, before finally offering sweet release with some sublime fuzzy guitar and stunning soulful vocals that will give goosebumps to anyone with even half a heart.