Falling in Love With My Friends is a powerful cut of alt-country from Dan Nash, with its striking lyricism and evocative music video.
The UK born, Sydney-based Dan Nash is no stranger to the music scene. Managing tours for the likes of Jack River and Thelma Plum found Nash a home on the asphalt and steering wheel. Sadly, COVID proved a nasty pothole for the musician, in more ways than one.
Time away from touring lead Nash to pause, and reflect on lived experiences and personal battles. These contemplations have culminated into some beautifully convincing releases, such as his heartbreaking debut, Coming Around. Still, Falling In Love With My Friends, paired with its simple-but-effective music video, makes this release his strongest yet.
If there’s something we’ve learnt from Dan Nash, it’s that sometimes holding back is more powerful than lashing out. Produced by Ben Corbett at Golden Retriever Studios, Falling In Love With My Friends is held together with soft snare and kick, repetitive, reverbed electric guitars, steady bass, and some gorgeous pedal steel performance.
Next, enter Nash’s gut-punch lyricism and an effortless knack for melody, delivered with a mundane, inward-looking honesty similar to Kurt Vile or Ryan Adams, and you’ve got a track with clearance to reach your soul. With mystic imagery like “cut my finger on a plane with my sister, but crying don’t make a sound,” it’s definitely earned.
The track’s music video matches the instrumental approach, finding artistic strength in the simple, not complicated. Through stop-start, pencil illustrations, Nash captures feelings of isolation, loneliness, hope, and resilience. The colours of blue, black, and grey set the serious tone effectively. One particularly effective image from the video is the protagonist being lifted into the sky by a heart-shaped balloon – it could be straight out of a Pixar short.
“Gotta find another use, cause I don’t wanna take my life”. After the glistening chorus, Nash hides the crux of the track in the second verse. Losing his main source of income from COVID and struggles with addiction and purpose, have resulted in some mature reflection, with Nash discovering what truly matters. His true friends, and the people worth caring about. Penning this track must have felt like a resurrection, or at the very least, a cathartic release. The powerful emotions carry across to the listener with great effect, signalling that Nash’s future is bound to shine bright. With plans for an album in June, be sure to keep one ear on the ground.
Have a listen to Falling In Love With My Friends below:
