Cheltenham, England-based artist Charlie Sly brings hazy dream-pop textures and impactful delivery to “Never Had,” a reflective song about the painful aftermath of giving everything to a relationship without receiving the same in return, following the dissolution of an 11-year relationship. Recorded entirely in Sly’s bedroom studio, the layered production grew from a DIY process of guitars, harmonic layers, and carefully shaped atmosphere.
A calming, meditative percussive presence commences, quickly joined by caressing guitar jangles in furthering the warmly approachable introduction. Twangy guitar progressions continue forth into a memorable lead opening, spanning from an initial soaring quality to more introspective allure. The title-referencing phrasing drive into the “it’s the best thing…” refrain is particularly gripping, drifting with a hazy, relaxing quality into gentle pulses of guitar and slight touches of synths around the two-minute mark.
The final minute unveils a striking harmonic element, assuming a falsetto-reaching, ghostly entrancement. The artist’s powerful delivery succeeds in both its comforting repetition and eventual dynamics in this final minute, feeling like a cathartic dose of emotion following more understated tonal ruminations on a relationship’s aftermath. A serenely absorbing rock glow combines with ethereal phrasing and a personal inspirational process, depicting the grief of giving one’s all to someone who didn’t reciprocate, to make for a wholly resonant success of a track from Charlie Sly.
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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.
