Tim: Says Ms Smith, about last February: “All we could see around us were hollow-eyed people on the subway walking into each other and stepping on each other’s feet, drowsy from too little sleep and too much darkness. We said ‘let’s just be honest with ourselves that life sucks for the moment.’… Sometimes you want a song to pick you up – but sometimes, at least for us, we just want to rest in our feelings and embrace the lows for a while.” So ENJOY!
Tim: And however grim and depressing you may find the message – thanks to a back injury, I’m in more physical pain as I write this than I can remember having ever been in, so I wouldn’t mind some e.g. Katy Perry Firework joy – you can’t deny that’s a fairly good piece of work.
Tom: An offhand and sudden confession there, Tim, hope you’re OK. And you’re right: the song takes its own time to build, but by the time backing vocals appeared, I was actually starting to get behind it. For a song that is deliberately Not A Banger, that takes some doing.
Tim: If we’re going to have a song dedicated to the most miserable time of the year, you could do a lot worse than this, with its minor key, moody strings and slow piano line all contributing. And those backing vocals towards the end: wonderful. I reckon this can be enjoyed however you’re feeling – to make you feel better, knowing there a whole load of people with you, or to make you feel happier, knowing that you’re doing a whole lot better that most suckers out there. It’s lovely.