“Middle” is a consuming new single from Irish pianist, composer, and songwriter Laura Ampersand, exploring the uncertainty of identity amid major changes in life. Its chamber-pop arrangement complements lyrics about relationships, leaving home, and searching for stability when neither the beginning nor ending feels right.
“I don’t really care how it starts, how it ends,” Ampersand’s lead presence resonates with initially spacious appeal. The lack of instrumentation quickly changes into an expanded allure, with moody piano and steady percussion melding with strings as her delivery beckons to “show me the middle.” The phrasing heightens in pitch throughout the ensuing sequence, which is dreamy and inviting as the frolicking piano and strings conjure a chamber-pop entrancement. “I can’t really tell where I start, where I end,” the vulnerably lyrical sense continues, vying for “the middle” in representing a yearning for stability.
The references to “blurry visions” are poetically moving around midpoint, again capturing that feeling of searching for true identity and ensuing middle ground, devoid of heartrending lows and temporary highs. The performance’s “falling into” refrain is particularly moving as the glistening piano pairs with more fervent bursts of instrumentation, strutting Ampersand’s ability to blend alt-pop theatrics with chamber-pop elegance. “Middle” is an excellent piece of songwriting from Laura Ampersand.
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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.
