I have to say there is some cracking music arising out of Norway just now; the superlatives don’t stop coming.
This is the sixth and final single before the release of Remedies’ second album on November 14th and arguably they left the best till last.
Their songs tend to be moody, sometimes a little dark and that’s true of ‘Give us a place’. It is released at a pertinent time as so many people around the world, and not only in international news hotspots like Gaza, are seeking a safe haven.
Indeed the problem runs far deeper than divisions over borders. Almost everyone is caught up in an ideological war, usually around an axis of right versus left but it can be gender based of course or it can revolve around infinitesimal local disputes. The world seems constantly to be at war with itself.
Perhaps it would be a good idea if 3I/Atlas turned out to be an alien spaceship instead of a comet and suddenly showed up on Earth’s starboard bow in a threatening posture, having travelled the length of the galaxy to locate intelligent life but having found us, instead.
It would focus minds here for sure.
So, “‘Give us a place’ captures an urgent longing for a safe haven, both physical and emotional. It speaks to those feeling lost, overwhelmed, or emotionally depleted, transforming vulnerability into a powerful call for help, healing, and hope.”
The song opens with a synthesised version of an air raid siren, something that many have become familiar with, followed immediately by what could be Lennon’s piano opening to ‘Imagine’. Then the two merge into an ethereal scream.
It’s hard to imagine a more evocative introduction to any song.
That evocation doesn’t let up as Sigrid Ryan’s peaceful vocal enters the fray over a piano/strings section that might accompany a TV documentary chronicling the march of the displaced Rohingyas in Myanmar or highlighting the locked up Uighurs in northwest China or those constantly on the road up and down Gaza or the Iranians being kicked out of Afghanistan right now having only just fled there. The list goes on…and on.
A gentle piano bridge that might be interpreted as a short-lived ceasefire prepares the ground for a more urgent and focused outro that underscores the simple fact that for far too many, as the bombs fall and the missiles find their targets, this is all that life has become and will ever be.
‘Give us a place’ is an intensely thought-provoking song from a duo that specialises in them.
I dare say Lennon would have been proud…
(Continues after the Spotify link)
And there’s more to come:
“The album explores themes such as the human mind and external influences (on it). These are topics that have fascinated Remedies for a long time and are becoming increasingly relevant as people move further away from living simple lives.”
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