What a treat this one is. “Balcony” is a charming, lo-fi, alt-folky ditty from fellow Start-Track writer and Prague-based singer/songwriter Greg Gobel.
Clocking in at only 56 seconds long, it somehow manages to evoke emotion and vivid imagery, as well as a multitude of artistic comparisons in an incredibly short amount of time.
“Balcony” was originally written and recorded in July for the One Minute Wonders special on the Hello Goodbye Show on Resonance 104.4 FM, based in the global cultural hotbed that is London, England. The single will be broadcast there on Sept 12th, 2026.
Gobel recorded “Balcony” at home in his bedroom, and has ingeniously fostered an atmosphere of both marvel and malevolence. Like Nick Cave and Leonard Cohen dueting on an unreleased song from the I’m Wide Awake It’s Morning sessions accompanied by members of Arcade Fire, “Balcony” is much more than the sum of its individual parts. Entirely made up of guitars, bass, and layers of vocals, it’s amazing how much Greg has managed to wrangle out of so little.
From the atmospheric guitar textures in the background (which we’re told were gained by using a “Canadian 25 cent coin – for some reason that coin gets a better tone than other ridge-edged coins”) to the concluding chord progression and the descending notes that accompany it, this is a little thing of large beauty.
The author describes the track as “a small song about making things look nice while saving the world! It reveals that we can make the world better through small, daily actions that don’t seem that impactful at the moment.” We’d say the world just became that much sweeter with the addition of this tune. Bravo, Mr. Gobel, bravo.
Take a listen to “Balcony” below.
Written by Kinda Grizzly
