Well, this is refreshing. The review pile that sits skyscraper-like on the edge of my desk (almost big enough to require planning permission and clearly visible on Google Maps) is full of songs about breakups and haters and tales of how people are going to get revenge or at least show their ex what they are missing. You know, songs written by people who can’t, or perhaps don’t want to, move on.
So it is great to find myself listening to a song from a more adult perspective. Although “This Is Where” begins with that sentiment, of I thought this was forever, it quickly becomes a lot more philosophical. People, it says, outgrow each other, sad but true. But rather than see this as the end of one story, you should see it as the beginning of two new ones. This is the page being turned and the start of a new chapter for both of us.
Eileen Carey wraps this mature and marvellously grown-up sentiment in her usual blend of pop smarts and rock energy, slight country echoes and sunlight sonics. The combination makes for a song with broad appeal, from roots fans to rockers, pop aficionados to…well, anyone who has an ear for a good tune.
But most of all, it is the sound of the world beyond all the histrionics and hullabaloo, the immaturity and hyperbole, a song sung by someone with a tear in their eye but a smile on their lips. A person who understands life and what it is all about.