Keep it simple – sometimes less is more, and when the music speaks purely, it’s often the most powerful. These are musings to consider and celebrate, when a brief yet beautiful acoustic folk song like Half Okay hits the scene.
Spanning less than two minutes in full, Half Okay is both delicate and boldly impassioned, evolving swiftly but with a steady pace, from softness to volume – Celtic folk to something like folk punk, then returning to let that wave settle one last time, before disappearing entirely.
Mike Welch has crafted a beautifully unique but classically familiar kind of folk song with Half Okay, the track pairs piano and acoustic guitar, with a leading solo that’s fast-paced but still gentle within the mix, and it feels traditional but fiercely refreshing.
Slowly but surely the additional voices, the strings, the rhythms, step forward into the spotlight, to help draw all the more focus to this heartbroken outpouring, from a protagonist who is clearly and genuinely immersed in this moment.
An easy favourite song from the summer so far, the simplicity and ache of Half Okay, the concept and title, the imagery and scenes, the optimism countered by the pain of memories, all makes for an addictive and brilliantly clever listen.
You need to see this through to its finish, which doesn’t take long, and which satisfies intensely, as it sweeps you off on its energy and its raw, poignant emotion. The story and the sentiments, the delivery, the rising passion, the contrast of musical brightness and vocal sadness, all delivers a kind of modern emo folk tale and burst of realism that’s euphoric to listen through, from start to finish.
A rather perfectly made alternative folk song, in my view, and one you won’t regret listening to.
Find all things Mike Welch.
