Charlie McCosh details heartbreak with painful realism on new indie-rock ballad Boy.
Charlie McCosh has released her latest single Boy. An indie rock ballad documenting the throes of heartbreak, the single rightfully forefronts the Melbourne singer-songwriter’s commanding yet vulnerable vocals, with the swell of the surrounding production making for a truly powerhouse performance.
Opening with subtle guitar strums, Boy sees McCosh list off the qualities she’ll discard in the name of love before bidding an inevitable farewell to her muse. “Don’t throw this away,” she croons with an intoxicating vocal fry similar to that of Mallrat, “hold me one more time.” What begins as a guitar driven ballad later ascends with the introduction of regal synths courtesy of Jaiman Long.
Anchored by Alex Garla’s production, Boy later becomes a blissful instrumental affair, with the punchy percussion of Oly Bugg and twinkling keys of pianist Sean Wilde. Leaving no stone unturned, Boy even features the gritty electric guitar sequence of Nick Vargas, who adds to the track’s richly textured instrumentation.
For all her sonic flair, McCosh is equally focused on lyricism. There’s an intimate quality to her songwriting on Boy, to the point where you can imagine the verses were peeled from the pages of her own diary. It takes a certain kind of honesty to expose one’s heartbreak in such a tender way, but McCosh brings a relatability to her universal tale of romantic sorrow.
“Boy shows a different side of my music,” McCosh said in a press statement. “I wrote [it] when I moved out of home, [and] I was also going through my first heartbreak at the time. It has really matured with me. It sounds like a completely different composition now.”
Boy marks McCosh’s second-ever solo single, and follows on from the release of her debut effort When I Look in the Mirror last year. Elsewhere, the singer teamed up with FOREST. for the stirring collaborative single Time in 2022. Boy is said to kick start what will be a thrilling musical chapter for McCosh throughout this year.
In the meantime, you can listen to the brooding new single below.
