"Loveable" by Ollie Bond

Out today from Ollie Bond is his latest single, "Loveable", his follow up to "Slipping Away" which came out back in April.

I understand that I tend to get excited by the latest release from artists whose work I like & I do try hard to avoid both hyperbole & shallow "best ever" reactions, but in the case of "Loveable", I'm prepared to go on record as saying it's possibly my favourite Ollie Bond song yet.

Ollie has occasionally written material which can be interpreted as professions of love (not necessarily romantic) or explorations of deeper issues such as mental health (as indeed "Slipping Away" was).

This time, we seem to be talking about another aspect of the latter, in the form of a meditation on self image & esteem from the perspective of a caring and compassionate observer urging the subject to be kinder to themselves & to not beat themselves up so much ("how can you say that you're not loveable?"). In this way, it might be almost seen as a poetic & musical expression of an actual therapeutic intervention.

Even by Ollie's standards, there is a clarity of production which adds to the sense of earnestness & humanity: one focuses so much on the words and the message that the detailed & carefully crafted arrangement only becomes apparent on subsequent plays (a subtle concoction of stringed instruments picked, plucked & bowed).

You can listen to "Loveable" & Ollie's other work & you can enjoy it. It will take you somewhere better by the end than where you were at the start. However you can also REALLY listen to it & learn from it & end up a slightly better person from his guidance & example.