Austin, TX-based composer and alt-pop artist Nathaniel Earl captivates on the newly released track “happy,” an emotionally cinematic reckoning that was written upon learning an ex had married. Blending piano, synths, and evolving string-laden beauty, the single bridges heartbreak and acceptance while previewing the memory-driven, transformational arc of his forthcoming album What Follows What Remains.
“It’s already been too long, to pen a proper breakup song,” Nathaniel’s ghostly vocals let out, as gliding piano exudes a solemn entrancement alongside. Pit-pattering rhythms and lush, spacey synth pad infusions further the haunting atmospheric pull, as the vocals admit “I guess I’m just hoping you’re happy, in the end” with a Thom Yorke-esque tonal command. An ensuing expanse of wintry synths and bass-y ruminations invigorates; the vocals maintain their calm yet affecting demeanor, as does the perpetuality of the piano’s trickling undercurrent, while the additional textures result in a thoroughly moving ardor.
The mid-point proves especially riveting as the lyrics assume an introspective allure, reflecting on life as the strings attain a more dramatic, ascended edge. Reflective vocal elements and “because I loved you” past-tense power continues a hope for inner-peace and moving-on, cathartic in both the track’s swell of instrumentation and the vocals’ steadfast emotion. “happy” is a grippingly climactic and artfully accomplished track from Nathaniel Earl.
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This and other tracks featured this month can be streamed on the updating Obscure Sound’s ‘Emerging Singles’ Spotify playlist.
We discovered this release via MusoSoup.
