Nick Byrne - 'Houses'
Singer-songwriter Nick Byrne revisits the meaning of home on poignant indie folk single, ‘Houses’.
Opening with an inquisitive fingerpicked guitar and hushed emotive folk vocals, ‘Houses’ presents itself as a nostalgia-drenched song where introspection is heightened in sparkling, magical, 80s infused synth textures, which warmly accentuates the song’s beauty and brilliance. There’s also a really freeing electric guitar solo later on in the song that gives the track a raw, reflective, edge as Nick Byrne processes the many conflicted feelings that crop up in the song’s weighty storytelling.
Thematically, Byrne explores the themes of family and belonging and taps into a sense of sorrow. But there’s a sweet magic to the track that softens any melancholy and sees ‘Houses’ lifted with optimism as strings swell around the refrain, ‘ this feels like home, feels like home, feels like home’, before fading out as gently as the song started with soothing fingerpicking.
’Houses’ offers a sense of stillness and a well needed reminder of the things, and the people, that help us to grow and find our way during times of uncertainty.
Words of Karla Harris.