Whilst Cam Cole has certainly had a successful rise through the ranks, when you consider the miles covered, the number of shows played, and the effort he has put in, no one would ever say that he hasn’t earned it fairly and squarely. Even more so, he’s done it without compromising who he is or the music he makes. You can learn a lot from people who get on in life without feeling the need to fit with the prevailing fads or fashions, and nowhere is that truer than in the fickle world of music.
But his latest single, ‘Chasing Dreams’, might explain a lot about how he has got to where he is today, and its message is worth really thinking about. Many of us think that there is a unified goal, a place that we are all trying to get to, where we can tick the boxes of success, happiness, love, wealth, or whatever this distant utopia looks like to you. You’ll never get there…such a place does not exist.
What Cole reminds us here is that every person’s goal is different, so all you can do is be yourself, do what makes you happy, drop all the baggage that is holding you back, and you will be free to define your own journey and choose where you would like it to take you purely on your own terms. In all honesty, you might never get there, but you will enjoy the ride.
And to reinforce the message, ‘Chasing Dreams’ sounds like nothing other than pure Cam Cole-ness, raw and rootsy guitars, blues vibes pushed through an up-and-at-‘em pop-aware filter, a dash of hippie chic and a sliver of folk rock. And while the sound has broadened and grown more adventurous in recent years, at its core it’s the same one-band ethic that got him noticed in the first place.
Or, in short, you do you and I’ll do me, and we’ll both do it one small step at a time. It’s as simple as that.
