Tim: Evan was big a while back, but has been a bit quieter of late, though still putting out the occasional track. This slightly (alright, very) morose number, for example.
Tom: Man, those percussion hits in the intro are proper, old-school Casio-like synths. It takes a lot to make them fit into anything orchestral – and yet here they work really well.
Tim: They really do. It’s probably the most depressing video you’ve seen all week, but never mind, because it’s just beautiful.
Tom: Depressing, and yet somewhat amateurish – all the filters in the world can’t stop it being a bit like a low-budget episode of Shortland Street.
Tim: Well, that’s an obscure TV hospital drama reference we can all get behind – well done Tom.
It took me a while to think what this reminded me of, but then I realised it was of a downbeat Neo, in both the voice and the complexity of the backing. Both of those things are absolutely lovely, and they combine to make this track one of the best songs of this type I’ve ever heard. We don’t need to talk about what it’s about – the video makes it quite clear and saying anything would just depress me – but everything about the song fits perfectly with it.
Tom: And a theremin! It’s got a theremin as the backing – or, at least, a synth that sounds very much like it. I’m amazed at how well all this fits together.
Tim: The single, available everywhere, has a Swedish version as the B-side, which is almost even better – the lack of English lyrics means you focus more on the tone of the voice, and you really hear the sincerity, the emptiness and the sadness that’s there. (It also stops me being an inadvertent corporate whore by not making me want to sing “I would FaceTime”.) Combined with the strings and piano in the background, it’s just fantastic.