Nathaniel Paul is quickly becoming a regular feature here on Unrecorded, with recent singles ‘The Girl With No Tattoo’ and ‘When Stars Weep’ appearing on our radar. Now, the Brooklyn-based artist is making it a hat-trick with his newest release ‘Pills’. As is becoming a hallmark of the songwriter’s approach, this track cuts to the heart of society’s normalisation of overmedication – in all its forms. Paul‘s lyrics speak directly to the emotional impact of avoiding discomfort; it’s a powerful message wrapped within a steady lo-fi groove and layered synths.
As he explains: “This song isn’t anti-medicine, it’s about the way we’re conditioned to treat discomfort as something to be erased instead of understood. ‘Pills’ is a mirror held up to the way we cope.”
The opening line, “I feel no pain, take some pills and it goes away”, makes Paul‘s position on how our reflex to run away from our problems rather than deal with the root cause quite clear. While his voice is calm, it carries a certain intensity, matching the overall confident tone of the track. The accompanying music video reflects his straight-forward argument, itself simply filmed on the beach, allowing us to focus on Paul’s performance without unnecessary distraction.
‘Pills’ reinforces Nathaniel Paul‘s growing reputation for handling sensitive topics with grace and determination. It’s also another reason to look forward to his forthcoming album, set to drop this June.
You can listen to ‘Pills’ in our Shades of Pop playlist.
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