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Their debut single, ‘Drift Away', offered romantic escapism that even the coldest and oldest of souls couldn’t refrain from feeling like teenagers again. Buoyant and carefree, it was the blueprint for debut indie singles.
If ‘Drift Away’ and ‘Swansong’ were one movie, then ‘Swansong’ would be the poetic closing moments of a coming-of-age story, where the protagonists say goodbye to a friend or lover as the inevitably of real life appears. Both songs make each other better. The “I just want to listen whilst I drift away with you”, which felt like a live-for-the-moment release last September, is now coupled with the nostalgic agony of ‘Swansong’.
Lyrically, it’s inherently romantic, but such is the youthful power of Cam Artigan’s vocal that images of friendships Evan and Seth, Molly and Amy, or Otis and Eric materialise just as easily. Artigan’s vocal is beset with angelic innocence that will induce daydreams of those formative relationships that burned the brightest and fizzled out the quickest.
Although a song of looking back, sonically, it lands in you in the final moments of a significant relationship. The build is gentle but always intense, akin to the tentative footsteps taken on the walk home from a break-up. The knowingness that, once home, it's gone forever, which, through James Wilson’s climatic howling guitars, comes with devastating effect.
However, Wilson’s lyrics are charming and mature, easing the pain and allowing the fondness to creep back again. With only two songs released, Wilson’s songwriting has set sail towards greatness. Long may it sail!
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