Amy Jay - 'Hourglass'
Photo credit: Brittany Buongiorno
New York based singer-songwriter Amy Jay shares beautiful acoustic folk offering, ‘Hourglass’, a classic love song about falling for someone and hoping to grow old together.
I’m a big fan of acoustic/folk influenced music. But I’m also an incredibly picky fan of acoustic/ folk influenced music. These categories of music make it very easy for artists to fall into predictable and dare I say it - boring - territory, where emotional depth is buried amongst one dimensional, overdone ideas. But then you come across artists like Amy Jay who are out there doing their thing and doing it extremely well. These are the musicians who make these genres really come alive.
In fact, Amy Jay’s ‘Hourglass’ is actually the perfect kind of song that I would send to someone who “doesn’t get” this kind of music. Firstly, it’s undeniably beautiful in every way a song could be. Sure, it’s wholesome, but it’s also a very thrilling listen. ‘Hourglass’ highlights Amy’s gift at creating vivid, natural imagery in her lyrics that evoke all of the senses and offers escapism from our own individual reality. ‘Hourglass’ also poignantly philosophises the passing of time, loving bravely and living in the moment and we are rooting for a happy ending in her love story.
Sonically, Amy and producer Jon Seale have created a song which stunningly builds on the bare bones of gentle fingerpicking and subtle ambient textures, to become a lushly layered, swelling piece of music that excites its listener with its cinematic flourishes. However, the song also has moments of spaciousness, adapting to Amy’s moments of sombre reflection in her storytelling and showing off a captivating vocal that makes you want to listen to her songs on repeat.
’Hourglass’ is taken from Amy Jay’s upcoming second EP, which is looking like it will be a gorgeous collection of thoughtfully crafted songs awash with beauty, depth and a sincerity that will rattle every single one of its listeners emotions.
Words of Karla Harris