Nerina Pallot Shares New Single ‘Only The Old Songs’
After releasing a warm and vibrant array of gems throughout the last few months, including Alice At The Beach and Cold Places, British singer and songwriter Nerina Pallot has now released her seventh studio album I Don’t Know What I’m Doing alongside the soaring new single Only The Old Songs.
What I like the most about this song is how much emotion it has, with Nerina Pallot's gorgeous, expressive vocal delivery soaring effortlessly over a piano-based production. Inspired by the personal strife she and so many others experienced during the pandemic, Only The Old Songs highlights the strength we can always conjure during difficult times, even if it is sometimes the things we take for granted. This message is wrapped around emotive piano chords that are seamlessly intertwined with steady drum patterns and lush, cinematic strings that create an overall warm and intimate atmosphere. Check it out below!
Speaking about ‘Only The Old Songs’, she said,
The first line of the song, ‘bread and roses’ has long been associated with various suffrage and labour movements. My understanding of it is the idea that we need that which keeps our bodies alive (bread) but must also make sure to feed our souls (roses). It was hard to feel useful during the most extreme days of the pandemic - I have no medical or scientific training to speak of, and it was humbling and frustrating to watch the world grind to a halt and not be able to help in some way. How powerless did so many of us feel? The spirit was willing but the flesh was mostly incapable.
I took refuge in music - listening to it, making it and doing an online gig from my home once a week for a few months. Those few hours of immersion in music were, for so many of us, respite. Comfort. Release. Not being able to see or hold my parents or close family, it became important to me to listen to the music from my childhood; the songs I associated with happier times and the feeling that everything would be alright. ABBA, Kate Bush, The Beatles, Prince, Elton John, Stevie Wonder, Carole King: they were my best friends, holding my hand during my daily hour of government sanctioned exercise. It was pure joy to record this song - to be with my friends again, doing what we love most and feeling useful again.