Starting off with thrumming piano chords and the lead vocal sung in octaves, the country-style melody immediately comes over as nice and warm.
Chris Kelly’s Believe It is an uplifting and very pretty piece of songwriting. Just for clarity, the word ‘pretty’ could be interpreted as belittling or patronising, but that’s not the case here – Believe It feels like it’s been carefully pieced together, so I have chosen that word with care.
This doesn’t mean Kelly is singing it with reserve though: the passion bleeds out all around the lead vocal, which is very capable of making the melody soar.
We get the percussive strokes of acoustic guitar and a kick drum hammering out the beat in an Avici-style piece, which flies along on huge slabs of background vocals holding down very pretty chords. Guitar gets to pick out some effective extra melodies on top, too.
‘Can you feel it / Like I feel it too?’
You know what? I can. Intrinsically simple, this endlessly-rolling piece of unashamed affirmation motors across a simple, beautiful landscape with the hood down, and before long you’re travelling faster than you ever meant to. A tribal yell pops its head above the parapet every few lines to keep it visceral and driven, but the overall impression is one of tranquility, peace; of being uplifted.
It’s accomplished and doesn’t require close examination, it’s all about the atmosphere – and Believe It has it in spades. Timeless, distracting, lovely.
Find & follow Chris Kelly on Instagram, Twitter & Facebook.
