Spring is beginning in a few days, a beginning of new things and also a foundation for longing all kinds of things. Today’s song grows from that particular foundation, feeling melancholic and heavily homesick and looking off into the distance in the general direction where the family lives.
The song, titled “Leaving (Marie)” is a debut release for Chet Bucke, a singer and multi-instrumentalist residing in London. The young artist found songwriting as an admittedly near-obsession when he was child, having written dozens of songs by the age of ten and, as he recalls, all of them were in the A key as well. Inspired by the open and honest nature of folk rock and music genres from his home country Spain, Chet Bucke’s own sound carries hints of those while being a strong and wholly personal channel for stories lingering in his heart.
“My sound is an exciting, dynamic and deeply personal mix of my earlier musical influences and current alternative/ folk pop styles. Over the past year I have been working on an EP with London based producer Colin Lanz, who has been so incredible at capturing my vision and creating entirely independent and diverse soundscapes for each song. The powerful earthiness of the vocal performances can be expected to remain across the four tracks, with acoustic elements and catchy melodies at the forefront of the arrangements.”
Chet Bucke
His debut is a personal story of ever-present longing. Beginning with an echoing clip that unmistakably sounds like someone close to him singing a traditional song, the mood is set for somber aching helplessness coming from the distance between you and your family. It’s an emotionally charged folk song with strong influences of flamenco giving the song a heightened level of passion. That emotional peak flames in the chorus with strong percussion and his wonderful singing, and changes places with the quieter, more subdued parts that feel less fighty and more horizon-gazing in quiet acceptance of that distance inbetween.
“‘Leaving (Marie)’ came to me one night a year ago, around the beginning Spring. I received a video of my grandmother singing for her friends back in Spain that inspired a deep sense of homesickness and longing for connection. I instinctively picked up my guitar and started fiddling along to her voice. I felt that something quite meaningful could arise, and it quickly materialised into the hook and main body of the song. It kept growing and crystallising before me and it seemed that all I had to do was listen.
Chet Bucke
The song’s theme was inspired by my family’s past and recurrent patterns of separation which are now evident to me, as I stand in the place where some of my relatives lived in exile nearly eighty years ago. The lyrics explored the powerlessness of distance, both the physical and the emotional kind; the feeling that you can’t help those you love because they’re unreachable. Despite living quite far away from my loved ones, it is still that sort of distance that I fear most; the helpless kind you feel even in closeness.”
Now, when Chet has done the first step into the realm of a recording artist with that beautifully crafted personal song, the artist looks forward into the future with more music on the way: “New songs will be arriving soon, so keep an eye out for those!”
And if you feel the same rather bitter feeling of disconnection and distance from people you love, “Leaving (Marie)” is a perfect song to let those feelings flow. Somewhere underneath you’ll find the strength of acceptance.
Wonderful debut for anyone who loves folk and the emotional freedom it can offer, intertwined with hints of traditional sounds.
Don’t forget to support this project and to follow on Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, SoundCloud, YouTube, and Spotify. If you enjoy his music and are able to provide monetary support, you might consider downloading it on Bandcamp. You can obviously find it in the following Playlists: Less Than 1,000 Followers, Fresh Singles, Indie Only, Alterindie State Of Mind, 12 New Songs This Week, and, Debut Bands (Off The Radar).
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This coverage was created via MusoSoup #Sustainablecurator
