Boywithahalo – Downtown (2021)
The last year has caused a lot of us to seriously think about life. While stranded in mainland China due to COVID restrictions, boywithahalo decided to delve into a journey of rediscovery. This led to the single ‘Downtown’ which relives a childhood and mourns for a change from inner-city life. Filled with the conflicting emotions of liking and hating living in the city, it captures many of the struggles people have faced.
Using a DIY approach to making music, boywithahalo creates an authenticity in his music that is expressive and relatable. Bringing the struggles of modern life to the fore, his songs connect with listeners with a vulnerable and honest depth. With a hit of dream pop, he has you slipping into his musings and finding how they relate to your own life.
‘Downtown’ shimmers and plucks to life like the early morning sun streaming through leaves and into a room. The melody has a relatable feeling to it that makes you feel like it is an old friend welcoming you home. While washed with authenticity, the movement is reminiscent of the hustle and bustle of the street. You can almost imagine the city moving around you as you walk detached from everyone else. Halfway through the single, the music takes a dreamy turn that is interesting and irresistible.
The female vocals rest over the melody like an ethereal layer or a down feather gently drifting on the breeze. There is a tenderness and vulnerability to the vocal performance that brings the emotions of the track home. You are rather effortlessly drawn into the consumerism and sleepless nights that the lyrics bring to the track. Through the vocals, you are thrown into the push and pull of love and hate that many people feel about living in cities. The dreaminess of the vocals also encapsulates a want to escape everything about the city that is pulling you down.
Through the dreamy shimmers of ‘Downtown’, boywithahalo has you dreaming of escaping the city while still loving certain aspects. There is a wonderful emotional push and pull to the single that is artfully woven into the dreamy vocals. The melody enhances the emotional impact through the movement of the city that it captures.
Find out more about boywithahalo on his website, Twitter, Instagram and Spotify.
