Love songs are as old as the idea of song itself. Equally as old is the song of lost love, unrequited feelings, heartache, and regret; after all, you can’t have one without the other. And, because such songs are so established, so often done, so tried and tested, they tend to follow the same sonic lines and fumble around repeating the same saccharine sentiments and cliched messages.
So, thank the Gods of love, loss, and longing for Colm Warren and his latest single, “Thinking of You.” Yes, it is a song about lost love, missed opportunities, romantic roads not taken, and the struggle to tell that one person exactly how you feel about them. But it is also a great pop song and not many songs are able to tick both boxes.
Blending folk finesse, pop infectiousness, and the gentle sweeps and swoons of strings, this is one of those rare things, a love song spoken in an honest, relatable language, the soundtrack to that place we have all visited from time to time.
But far from feeling sad or self-pitying, this is something else: philosophical, realistic… mature. Yes, this is the sound of the love song, finally coming of age.
