"No Place That I'd Rather Be" by Anthony Gliddon

I rather enjoy coincidences & rather too often perhaps see meaning in them where maybe there is less than I imagine. I wondered only the other day about Ollie Bond releasing a new single written at the start of lockdown but held back until now: and here I am again with Anthony Gliddon's new solo single "No Place That I'd Rather Be" which has a similar history.

I say ‘solo' as you may know him as singer with Rosetta Fire and most of his releases (certainly ones we've covered in this publication) have been with the band. However with COVID19 tending to throw many band members back on their own resources, he's decided that this time, the song would be entirely his own.

Produced by Ian Clarke, the song starts on "the first of November" so one has to applaud his deciding to release it now (apparently he completed the actual recording process back in December 2021 so you really have to respect his patience & self control in waiting). It's a song of autumnal dark damp nights, celebrating the joys & comforts of the warm indoors, especially in the company of that special someone. To that extent, given what we know of its composition, it turns the negativity of lockdown into something completely different (and I confess, I think the message would have been powerful if released back then, but I felt the same about Ollie's song..in the end my respect for them both & their decisions prevails). In fact in years to come, the track, which has no explicit COVID19 connotations will presumably simply be seen as celebrating what it overtly does… and since SAD comes round each year regardless of pandemics, that's a pretty useful thing to be giving us anyway. This season doesn't always get a fair coverage, losing out to its surrounding seasons, Christmas etc, so that's another credit to it.

If you know Anthony & his previous work, then you'll be expecting a couple of things: a sterling vocal & mature, sensitive writing & you'll not be disappointed. He's got one of those voices where many of us would delight in his singing the proverbial phone book (little RF reference there) let alone a "proper song" like this one.

There is a great sense of safety evoked: things "..can't touch us here.." which speak to havens from storms and viruses alike and that sort of emotional comfort, especially when delivered with such a mellifluous and confident vocal draws one into the song the way many others cannot: it touches feelings present in us since earliest childhood & that sort of universality, if effectively brought to us as here, means the song has capacity to impact on everyone, irrespective of any other factor in our identities. And not too many songs work that road. A lot of his songs possess that timeless quality (and I think the sentiments within it are far from tightly bound to the specificity of the date it begins with) and I envisage myself & others enjoying it for years to come.