Life Was Good –  Paul Lappin (reviewed by Dave Franklin)

Life. It’s a funny old business. One minute you are sat in the south of France drinking wine, sketching the surroundings, writing songs and soaking up the sun, the next you are in a Swindon recording studio putting down one of those songs, surrounded by some of the best musicians the region has to offer. Having submitted a song, this song in fact, to a competition called For The Song, things then moved at quite a pace. The song was selected as the winner, then there have been recording sessions, live shows in two countries and now work on a full album is on the cards. All in just over a year. Tempus does indeed fugit!

And if Paul started the competition with a good song, he came out of the studio with a great track.  Like the story behind it, there is a natural momentum to the way it builds, from a spacious, acoustic indie-folk vibe towards an engaging pop-rock final destination, but does so by adding supple sonic layers and subtle musical textures almost without you noticing. And unusually for a song which starts in such understated territory there is an addictive beat right from the start, a beat that drives things on to their natural conclusion, infectious and energetic, allowing the instrumentation to deftly and quietly join the party, a guitar motif here, some extra percussion there, building vocal harmonies and shimmering peripheral sounds. Why be big when you can be clever?

It also paints some wonderful images lyrically, a reflective and poetic tale of living your life to the full, embracing what the world has to offer and filling your “eyes with amazing things.” And whilst the lyrics might be urging you to give new things a chance, nothing underlines the rewards of just saying yes better than this song’s real life back story.