"Falling" by Bygrave
ReviewThe latest (Dan) Bygrave single "Falling" is currently out on Beat Rebel Records: following up "Long Road Home" from last May.
Like that song, the startling opening draws you in with its chilly gpthic piano hinting at another dip into the melancholic following both its predecessor and "Friday Night". However this one dives deeper still. Sections of relatively composed narrative are interspersed with a refrain whose words are pretty anguished & his delivery takes them down into despair.
You have to admire his skill at crafting such songs so well & each successive one progresses in terms of these attributes: the skeletal backing strips the arrangement back as far as it will go & there is considerable space for his words to reverberate in your heads to compound the effect.
However if I'm being honest, the more of this style of track he creates, I think not so much of how well he has made each one but as to his state of mind. Are these songs autobiographical? I hope not, but the emotions do come across as very genuine. If it's third party story telling then he's really good at it: perhaps he's just homing in on intense emotional states even if they are a bit macabre. It makes for compelling listening but it's deliberately very unsettling. Since artists aim to make an impact, he's definitely succeeded here once again.