Indie songwriter Eimhin has always taken time with his music. The songs he writes are deeply personal, and reflect his upbringing, his culture, and his life. This is all on display in “Lately”, the newest single from him. The song is passionate, but not just in one faucet: vocals, melody, and instrumentation all feel precise, heartfelt, and deliberate.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KnGOL_nr7fQ
The song begins with a spacey set of strings from the primary acoustic guitar, and this sets the sound for the majority of “Lately”. Eimhin’s guitar work is fantastic on the track: the opening strings have this progressive rock sound that reminds me of some of Yes’ Fragile album. The vocal stylings however, are definitely modern. They have this duality between the verses and chorus, from a low, cool sound to this powerful, high energy lead. This compounds with the spacey, dynamic sounds in the second half of “Lately”. The percussion comes into full swing here, from its status in the opening verses and chorus. Even as the song fades out, the high-hats rings and mixes with the spacy synths that entered earlier. Eimhin’s lyrics reflect a lost and seeking individual, and this is reinforced on the midpoint of the track: we have these cozy strings that mesh with the lead acoustic at the start of the song. But at the midpoint, where the singer is comforted by their mother, these familiar strings are laid over the more unfamiliar synth sounds. The way Eimhin mixes this transition feels like a shift for the listener into the second half of “Lately”: the solo. Coupled with the lyrical peak, the solo is emphasized.
When the lyrics finally come in for the closer, it feels like the singer has moved in one way or another. They’ve grown or changed, and judging from the teasers that Eimhin has released for “Lately” on their personal YouTube, this was intentional. The guitar is fantastic on “Lately”, and has an indomitable indie groove that sticks with the listener.
