Listen To The River is a beautiful piece of music not least of all because of the easy going, easy to escape to ambiance that embraces you throughout. The song has an incredible hook, something that is not always associated with electronic or down tempo, trip-hop style music. The fact that the soundscape itself works brilliantly as an effective listening experience is ammo enough to make the track worthy of a download, but on top of this there’s a sublime development of melody leading to that all important chorus and that key moment of imagery and poetry.
Musically speaking the song has the simplicity of trip-hop fused with a gorgeously soothing leading vocal, not dissimilar to the likes of Portishead or Zero 7, though perhaps leaning in a slightly more minimal (at first) or mainstream direction. The simplicity leaves plenty of space around the core ideas of the songs, so you’re left alone with these words and these reflections on life, and this is what makes it all strike with such power. The switch from the verses to the hook holds immense strength due to both the notable contrast and the skillful nature of the writing and the production. The music builds and builds throughout, and the artist’s leading voice follows suit superbly – always adjusting to that increasing emotion and passion.
The song possesses one of the most memorable and provocative hooks I’ve heard in a long time. The melody washes over you in a way that makes any length of time seem too short, increasing the chances of you pressing repeat, perhaps again and again. Beautiful sounding music makes every moment brighter in itself, but when you get the songwriting chemistry just right, which is rare, and difficult, something about it just changes your entire day. One for the long term playlist, for sure.
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