I’ve always had a special place in my heart for character driven songs. Those moments when an artist decides to walk awhile in someone else’s shoes and tell a part of their story. Often I find it offers that little extra hit of escapism, something we could all use with these dark and lonely lockdown days getting us down. As it happens though, ‘Always’ hits pretty close to home in that regard, as it tells the tale of someone for whom isolation feels all too familiar. “I had that first line “leave the tv on” about watching dodgy daytime television shows… It made me think of elderly people, maybe who have lost their significant other, spending most days dreaming of special nights dancing together, losing a little bit of sanity with each passing day alone“. Such moving inspiration has lovingly been brought to reality with this sublime new single. Sophie Morgan’s signature wistful warmth and vivid imagery offering a bittersweet blend of the blissful escape of nostalgia and the painful pangs of loneliness. The song is stunning as ever from this Belwood favourite, but it’s the accompanying video that really sets it apart. The wonderful choreography capturing all the grace and elegance of the golden age of Hollywood, but all the while the façade ready to fall away and bring us back to reality.
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Top Tracks: Bertie Newman – Lost
We so often hear about the pain of break-ups, less so about about the debilitating wave of confusion that accompanies it. The struggle of knowing where to turn and how to carry on when someone that had become a huge part of your life leaves a daunting void in their wake when they’re gone. True to its name, ‘Lost’ perfectly captures the adrift feeling that comes with a broken heart. Trying to disentangle yourself from all the ways your lives were once interwoven, not knowing who to turn to as the person you were closest to is now gone. Even looking back on the time you shared together can leave you facing mixed feelings; are you grateful for those happy memories, or sad that you won’t get the chance to make more of them together. With the heartfelt folk of his debut single, promising singer/songwriter Bertie Newman delivers the kind of relatable lyricism, soft wistful vocals and mellow idyllic arrangements that instantly win you over. It’s a stunning first release, a track that sees Bertie wear his hurt and doubt proudly on his sleeve, and already all I need to call him “one to watch” in my book.
Top Tracks: Jenny Kern – Coming Back For Me
I recall once reading about the quietest room in the world. How people can only endure being inside it for a few minutes at a time, as the deafening silence allows you to hear the sounds of your body that the world would otherwise drown out. In a way I feel like this phenomenon applies to any extended period of isolation – something we’ve all had in abundance this past year. It’s when we’re alone with our thoughts that our minds wander the most. Somehow the quiet stillness of solitude is all it takes to open the floodgates. All those fears you dare not acknowledge, the memories long faded rushing back in vivid detail, the pent-up emotions you hoped would simply fade away; all surging unbidden to the forefront of your thoughts. It’s a difficult feeling that can make you want to run and drown it all out again. But by learning to embrace these moments, by learning to be okay with being alone, we can better process all the unseen and unspoken tension wearing us down. It’s a sentiment perfectly suited to Jenny Kern’s signature introspective style. With this new track from her forthcoming EP, full of fine details to discover on further listens, Jenny’s dreamy vocals and the slow burning soundscape provides all the company you need for a quiet night of reflection.
Spotlight!: BE GOOD
There’s something strangely compelling about those few hours where the late afternoon fades into the early evening. In that bewitching liminal space between night and day, we see so much change in such a short space of time, evoking a wide array of different feelings. The warm glow of golden hour that can make even the most mundane and dreary setting feel magical. The way the sunset bathes the sky in colour like an impressionist painting; a vibrant canvas of pinks and oranges that you can’t help but stare up at with a sense of childlike wonder. The eerie blue haze of dusk as those last lingering rays of sunlight cling on as darkness seeps into the sky. Oxford quartet BE GOOD condense the bittersweet beauty inherent in each sunset into their latest EP Everything’s Alright in the Evening. Continue reading
Top Tracks: Tom Speight – Everything’s Waiting For You
Sometimes it’s hard to envisage a way out of the darkness. Hard to keep grounded when surrounded by uncertainty. No matter how hard people try to convince you that everything will all work out in the end, when you’re at your lowest, the tempest raging inside your mind simply won’t allow you to believe them. But where words fail, being present in the moment can make a world of difference. It’s one thing simply to say that brighter days are coming, it’s something else entirely to stick by someone’s side until they do. With his anthemic new single ‘Everything’s Waiting For You’, singer/songwriter Tom Speight offers a timely reminder not to let those we care about face their darkness alone. To say this is a song about riding out the storm together does it a disservice however, as there’s a resolute defiance and a feeling of triumph that makes this track so much more grand and uplifting. It’s a track about outrunning the storm. It grabs you by the hand and carries you through the rain, and keeps on going until the clouds are but a distant memory and the promised clear skies lie before you.
Top Tracks: Talia Mar – Jack
The tantalising tingle that spreads like wildfire across your skin, feeling your blood rush like a river bursting its banks as your heartbeat quickens, the way your head spins as you find yourself completely lost in the moment. A destructive longing for a beguiling high that all begins with an innocent brush against your lips. Love is one hell of a drug, especially when it leads you to fall for someone who would rather find that same high through other means. With ‘Jack’ Talia Mar weaves together two tales of addiction, two sides of the same story. One side increasingly dependent on alcohol as a means of escape, the other still clinging to a partner “more toxic and poisonous than the liquid in that cup”, both unable to break the pattern, holding on for the next rush of dopamine no matter the cost. Musically ‘Jack’ is every bit as intoxicating and addictive as the story it tells. Building from sparse yet sumptuous piano to an enthralling and hard-hitting electropop chorus, Talia’s beautifully bewitching vocals leave you hanging on her every word. It’s a wonderfully irresistible track that will keep tempting you back for another round time after time. (Spotify)
Top Tracks: Jesse Michael – Made For This
It’s hard to chase a creative dream (music especially) even at the best of times. In choosing to carve a path fraught with uncertainty and doubt, you’ll be fighting an uphill battle for every small piece of progress all on your own. All the while being told by people you know that you’re simply chasing a pipe dream. Moving into the new year, taking a moment to reflect on all the added challenge and hardship brought on by the mess that was 2020, I imagine there are plenty of creatives feeling hopeless and lost right now. This is a song for them. A song for anyone who has decided to pursue their passion and is currently facing a crisis of faith. With ‘Made For This’ singer/songwriter Jesse Michael offers a comforting reminder why people choose the road less travelled in the first place. When you truly love something, when it brings you a joy unlike anything else and forms an integral part of who you are, then it’s a dream worth fighting for with every last breath. It’s a message that I will gladly echo to any doubting artist, Jesse himself included; keep going.
Belwood Music 