Étáin – ‘At Least One’
Étáin’s debut single, ‘At Least One’, is an impressive ode to the comfort that can be found between two people even when they’re apart.
‘At Least One’ is a folk song that envelopes you in its own world. Built on a swirling melody that feelings more like a soundscape, its unflinching vulnerability is engrossing.
There’s a new guard of folk/pop musicians that we’ve seen coming together over the last few years with artists like Phoebe Bridgers, Lucy Dacus, and Julien Baker. With a work like this, it’s easy to imagine Étáin joining their ranks. Perhaps it’s her unique voice (both literally and lyrically), or her ability to compose compelling melodies – either way, her work feels like something new.
The track’s opening is mesmerising and largely responsible for how all-encompassing the song feels. There’s a little twinkle of birdsong (reminiscent of Adrianne Lenker’s Songs and Instrumentals); followed by a remarkable sense of actually hearing sunlight hitting the leaves, and then: a piano sounds a note; a guitar strikes a chord, and Étáin enters with her signature whispery voice. The melody builds into something fuller – a wall of determined folky guitar chords, with little melodies weaving in and out. It’s strikingly intimate – a lover reaching out to someone they cannot touch. It’s an attempt to share a moment, to acknowledge the difficulty, and to value the beauty. It’s positively cinematic.
Étáin wrote the song about being in a long-distance relationship “and realising you can’t be there for the other person in the way you wish you could be. The pang of longing hits you right in the chest,” she says.
“I wanted to write a love song that felt real,” explains the Irish artist. “So, it was important to me to show reverence for the difficult times in a relationship as well as the love and safety two people find when they're together.” This certainly rings true as you listen. The artist parses the highs and lows of the distance, the relationship, before settling onto a surety: ‘you’ve found me now, and I don’t think I ever wanna find my way back without you.”
The track was produced by US producer Noah Weinman (Runner) and brings together Étáin’s own passion for folk music by combining Irish and American traditions in the genre. She weaves Celtic vocal melodies, while an acoustic guitar drives the instrumental along. This, combined with her direct and vulnerable lyrics and signature vocal stylings, culminates in a unique sound.
These kinds of songs that feel like cinematic soundscapes are things you can imagine being magical live, and luckily enough, Étáin has some tour dates scheduled over the coming months.
Until then, we are left to make do with this remarkable single that ends as it begins – a little bit of birdsong from a sunny tree, a captured moment in time.
Words by Izzy Rowley
