Single reviewsThe Other Side Reviews

Kathy Long – Glow Gold (2024)

Time is fleeting – truer words were never spoken. One day you’re hanging out with friends at the cinema, the next it’s ten years later and you’re worried about a mortgage payment. Years flit by and the best thing is not to look back with regret, but rather hold onto the present and be yourself for the future. Singer-songwriter Kathy Long delves into reality with this sentiment paying tribute to the past, present and future. The latest addition to her discography is the single ‘Glow Gold’.

Tapping into the bright and dark sides of life, Irish musician Long captures elements of folk, indie-pop and new-age pop in an ethereal, cinematic soundscape. Following her 2023 cover of WHAM’s ‘Last Christmas’, ‘Glow Gold’ adopts an alternative-pop tone with avant-garde sentimentalities. Oscillating between feelings of joy and darker profound vulnerability, ‘Glow Gold’ captures life’s grit and glory in an almost six-minute song. Co-produced with Kevin Carrick, it is nearly indescribable as a melody. It’s intimate and heart-breaking with wistful complexity; however, the whimsy is laced with uplifting poetry.

Just as the song shifts from light to dark melodically, it reaches into your soul with delicate tendrils. Speaking about grief, there is complexity with Long dashing to the hopelessness but also lingering on the hopefulness of grief. Kathy Long explains:

“’Glow Gold’ is a song filled with love, grief, nostalgia, hope, and connecting to our inner voice to something bigger than us. I wrote this song after losing a parent, and something I’ve learnt with grief is that regardless of what life throws at you to carry on as your true self to shine in a world that needs the life.”

Sincere, sentimental, intimate and insightful, ‘Glow Gold’ shines bright with a golden twinkle amidst the drabber sonic pebbles. Highly, highly, highly recommended!


Find out more about Kathy Long on her Instagram, TikTok and Spotify.


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