If pop music is made from immediacy and accessibility and folk music woven from more deft and delicate, authentic and honest sonic elements, then “I Don’t Want To Fall In Love,” the latest release from Kristopher is a song that sits at a beautiful centre point where all of those meets.
Understated, chiming acoustic guitars are gently and slowly cocooned in subtle electronica and understated beats as this unassuming yet gorgeous song moves slowly from folk realms into that of balladic, contemporary pop, from purely analog climes to the more digital sonic spaces.
But, of course, with all such songs built of space and openness, it is the message and the meaning, the lyrical component that is the focal point, the music itself, merely a framework to highlight what the artist has to say, a musical vehicle for their thoughts and feelings.
Here, those lyrics, underlined perfectly by the video that comes as part of the package, are as honest as the music they dance over. They are direct, intimate yet relatable, personal yet universal, reminding us, even us who have been around for a while, of the tentative steps we take when infatuation strikes, when we encounter the first flourishes of love or are about to embark on new relationships. In a way, it also sends the opposite message.
Perhaps what “I Don’t Want To Fall In Love,” as the final verse suggests, actually says is it is okay to be scared but make your move anyway. It is better to have loved and lost than to have never to have loved at all. And what if this is the one?
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