Icelandic singer/songwriter Hera Lind recently returned to where she grew up – London – to pursue a full-time career as a musician. Since then, she has written and recorded dozens of tracks. I’m hoping every one of those songs is as good as her new single – ‘Finsbury Park’.
Sidenote: I actually took a walk in Finsbury Park the other day! It was lovely and warm – just like Hera’s music!…anyway, back to the review…
Hera says that ‘Finsbury Park’ is about the painful realisation that the person you love is beginning to question the relationship. The lyrics emerged from a deep intuition that something was about to change.
Well, Hera’s intuition seems to be serving her well so far – still only 25 and at the start of her musical journey – she has over 100k Spotify monthly listeners, and her tracks are busily racking up hundreds of thousands of streams.
There is an unassuming start to the track – a warm acoustic guitar plays out a jaunty rhythm, and Hera’s crystal clear lyrical delivery arrives like a summer breeze.
From the first word, there is a delicate tone and a fragile character to Hera’s voice that is so captivating.
The song has a simple arrangement – you can count the elements on one hand – so the song is really under the microscope. Thankfully, there’s a beautiful rise and fall in the melody, and some unpredictable chord changes that add depth.
It’s always a bonus to me when a vocalist resists the urge to sing in an American accent, so that’s another point to Hera. This has the same matter-of-fact lyrics and understated delivery as Lilly Allen, but I think Hera has a better voice and a great song.
Every time the song moved from verse to chorus or vice versa, that subtle chord change hit me. Wonderfully evocative and a little Beatles-esque imo.
Mellotron flutes and the occasional synth pad add some cool textures, and the song never loses its way or gives in to gimmicks – it just lets the story play out, and the songwriting speaks for itself.
“Do you actually like me or not?” Hera sings – YES! (we all cry!).
Written by Grubby
