Single reviewsThe Other Side Reviews

Kone Mara – Highway 1 (2021)

Using a journey through a mountainous inner landscape, Kone Mara take listeners on a nostalgic trip with ‘Highway 1’. As the band winds down the highway of the soul, they consider lost love with a soft and slightly euphoric vibe. Tinged with the warm late summer sun, the track has you reminiscing about past loves while finding a strange sense of peace with the loss of them.

Written in the last moments of summer, the band looks to prolong the warm days and easy feelings of the season. These vibes combine perfectly with the layering of sounds and colours that is characteristic of their music. As they take us away from the mundane reality of life, the vocals bring a hint of melancholy to the touch of dreaminess that they balance so perfectly.



‘Highway 1’ lightly plucks its way into your senses using a delicate acoustic guitar. There is an earthy feeling to the music that rises into a bopping beat that gets your head moving to it. Through the melody, you can imagine travelling down an open highway through the mountains with the wind whipping through the open windows. The freedom that comes with this shines through the music and lifts your spirits. There is a really light energy to the track that brightens the vocals and potentially melancholic lyrics.

As you ride down the highway of the melody, the vocals are bright like the sun streaming through the windscreen. The verses are as delicate as the opening line of the melody and build toward the chorus. On the chorus, you can feel a burst of colours that is utter perfection. While the lyrics consider lost love, they blend a touch of nostalgia with the freedom of letting go of any negative emotions connected to the loss. It is a poignant single that is light and happy while freeing you from negatives that we all experience at some time.

Kone Mara frees your spirit with a sunny trip down ‘Highway 1’ as they consider lost love and moving on. The melody is delicate as it builds to the chorus which bursts with colours. The vocals are freeing while tapping into melancholic emotions.

Find out more about Kone Mara on their Facebook, Instagram and Spotify.

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