It is said that comparison is the thief of joy, and such sage advice is especially worth noting in today’s media focused society. The latest single from this Scottish quartet looks at seeing people living their best life, seeing people born with a head-start in life finding greater opportunity than yourself, and feeling left behind. A sense of wasted chances, of time poorly spent, of looking at others and wondering “could I be where they are if I had just done things differently?”. It’s a heavy topic to be sure, but ‘tonic youth’ delivers it within such a wonderful wave of positive energy so as to soften the blow. The bright guitar melodies and driving bass line give it real momentum, while the sublime strings just dance circles all over the track. The uplifting musicianship alone is enough to convince me that time spent listening to ‘tonic youth’ is by far and away time well spent.