We may have stepped across the threshold into a new year, but safe to say it doesn’t feel like the fresh start many of us were hoping for. The pandemic still drags its feet, and all those compromises, missed opportunities and days spent hoping for light at the end of the tunnel have taken their toll. With ‘Screen of Doubt’, singer/songwriter Kate Brewer addresses the part of our lives that has come under the most strain: the connections with those we care about. As the track details the exasperating sense of distance and disconnect that comes with talking through video chats and making plans that centre on the idea of “one day”, it would have been easy for ‘Screen of Doubt’ to be a mere reflection of grim reality. Instead the track offers a more hopeful perspective; thanks in no small part to the simply exquisite saxophone and vocals reminiscent of Carole King. How thinking of the details lost when not talking in person leads you to cherish the little things you take for granted – the sparkle in the eyes when they smile, the echo of their laughter. How “making plans for when the world is the world again” keeps the hope alive by reminding us that there’s something to hold on for.