Track of the Week

 This week’s track of the week is one that I am honestly shocked I haven’t mentioned on here before because the EP it is from really defined my life for a hot minute. As you will know if you’ve been engaging with anything I make or write, I am a huge fan of stripped back, folky music any I think this track might be partly responsible for that. In my big list of underrated songs, this one is definitely up there. Without further ado, this week’s track of the week is ‘Count the Stairs’ by Charlie Hickey. 

The sonic landscape of this track is one of the most interesting things about it with the tone of the guitar and banjo created this super eclectic, almost vintage folk sound. The inclusion of a room mic creating a low level buzzing and noise throughout helps the listener feel really present, and it’s a technique that I’ve gone on to use in my own songs in part inspired by this one. Live drums also help the song to have some pace to it despite its raw vibe. Overall, one of the most powerful things about this one and the whole EP in general is the way in which the instruments are mixed to seem as though you’re in the room, something which I think could possibly be down to a tape plugin which, honestly, I’m dying to get my hands on. 

Lyrically, Charlie is a special kind of songwriter in my opinion. When I first started listening to his songs, I felt a strong sense of being able to relate and almost a normality, which makes it even more gut wrenching when he drops lines like ‘Said I really just don’t know what happened / But I, I think that you did / I think that you’re just a kid’. Personally, though, the standout chorus from this one has to be ‘And I know that you’re just growing leaves / And I hope you fall far from that tree / I can’t make everything stop spinning / But whenever you feel sick, I’ll be symptom’. If you’re looking for something that makes the mundane evocative and soul destroying, Charlie Hickey will do that. 

I would honestly recommend this one from the bottom of my heart to anybody who’s reading this. Give it a chance.