Inspired by the wonderful year of 1976 and the 70s era in general, Swedish newcomer VOCAL LONER releases her sophomore single with shows off her sincere singer-songwriter style and penchant for heartbreaking narratives.
First off, we’ll begin with the the song’s central theme. It was heavily inspired by the award-winning film A Star Is Born, in which a tragic love story unfolds. For the artist, it made perfect sense that the 1970s, with its dichotomy of increased freedom and self-destruction became a potent mix for many people. And so, VOCAL LONER began “writing a story about a man who fell in love with a girl in the audience at one of his shows, their subsequent relationship and its downfall after years of a toxic lifestyle filled with depression and addiction.”
While there’s certain a psychedelic retro feel to the reverberated strings, ‘1976’ generally takes after songwriters of that era who conveyed an immense depth of emotion and storytelling with a relatively simple composition. Really, VOCAL LONER is all about the vocal melodies, with the relaxed-fit percussion and patient guitars molding themselves around her.
Before we leave you to imagine the intimate world of this song’s protagonist, we’ll let the young Swedish artist describe more about the backstory to ‘1976’:
“The title of the song was sort of up in the air for quite a bit. The name came first from a place of admiration for the year in general. 1976 was a great year for music. For example, one of my favorite albums, A Day at the Races by Queen, was released, along with Blondie’s self-titled debut album and Hotel California by the Eagles. After realizing that the remake of A Star is Born, starring Barbara Streisand and Kris Kristofferson, came out in ‘76 it felt very fitting that the song should be titled after that year in particular.“
You can also listen to ‘1976’ in our Folk This Way playlist.
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