We live in an age of increasing uncertainty, spin, AI, imitation and lies. It’s almost at the heart of every creative and cultural battle of the modern age. But the “What Ifs?” that lay at the core of the latest single from Heron are the ones that are more ingrained in our understanding of life and the world around us.
Instead of heading down the conspiracy theory rabbit holes, he looks the listener in the eye, presents the miracles of life and wonders of the natural world, and asks a simple question. Are you sure that you know how the universe works? It is a line of questioning that comes from a more Buddhist angle rather than conspiratorial one.
And with such doubt, or at least room for reavaluation hanging in the air, he creates enough space for the listener also to reappraise what they think about themselves, the assumptions that they have applied to their own life. Heron is less trying to upset the apple cart of understanding, more allow enough room for you to look at its contents with fresh eyes.
Musically, he then laces this approach with whistful, reflective, and melancholic sounds. “What If?” is a spaciousl musical affair, so much so that the musical threads that he uses to weave the song are so loosely tied that all manner of other atmospheres bubble up in the space between. Spaces where chiming piano dances deftly with lush strings, half-heard beats guide graceful acoustic guitars, and digital delicacy and analog traditions blend seamlessly.
This combination of gentle questioning and gorgeous sonics feels almost medetitive, a soundtrack to make you look at the world from a different angle, to give you a gentle nudge or take you by the hand, a shifting of the world as you know it, or thought you knew it, and invitation to liminal exploration and lateral thinking between fact and assumption, percieved wisdom and new ideas.
A pop song perhaps, but one that’s built on poignancy and purposefulness, philosophy and wisdom, enlightened thinking and reappraisal. So, not your average pop song, not by a long way.
Heron
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