Lucas Zoick’s latest release is one that reflects his creatively free approach to songwriting in the same instance as underlining an array of musical influences. What begins as a simple folk-pop song, gently picked and nearly whispered, soon evolves and in fact kicks in with impact as the drop to the hook strikes. Suddenly this grunge-like moment of weight and intensity takes over, showcasing a totally new side to the artist, and cleverly highlighting the intensity of the emotions Zoick experiences when revisiting or performing this particular song.
While there’s a clear story-line to this release, the overall concept is left much to the imagination. Zoick’s dream of Sophia begins as the music does – a simple and pleasant encounter – but this is clearly just the start of something much bigger. As things progress, the change in vocal tone and subsequently the impact of the song go on to reflect a stark change in language use. The verses use positive phrases like ‘thank you’ and ‘lullaby’, and they’re presented with a mildly positive mood – though admittedly the chord progression and the melody do hint at anticipation of a change in direction; an incoming difficulty. The hook and the later sections go on to juxtapose optimism with darkness, using terms like ‘trapped’ and ‘lost’, even a reference to ‘two hundred and forty volts’.
It’s possible, and likely, that this switch in energy merely points out the passion and connection the singer feels when recalling this dream. However, there’s also a sense of being misunderstood elsewhere, in real life, and that feeling is quite relatable, and lingers throughout. In either case, the set-up works really well. The song actually feels like a fully fledged grunge-rock offering, yet all of the effects are achieved by a mere man and his guitar. The distinctly raw and lo-fi presentation style of both the song and the video effectively reinforces its realness, its purity, and further reminds you of the musical and indeed artistic abilities of the artist.
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