Charles Van Kirk Drops New Single ‘10 MPH’
Brooklyn-based artist Charles Van Kirk shares his brand new single 10 MPH, the first single and title track from his upcoming album due early September!
What I like the most about this song is its warmth and soothing atmosphere and how it sounds perfect for a laid-back, introspective day home alone. A meditative folk-pop song, 10 MPH is a tender, hearted introduction to Charles Van Kirk’s album chronicling his bicycle ride across the United States. From the Atlantic coast in Maine to the Pacific in Oregon, the composer covered 3,924 miles across fourteen states in two months during the summer of 2021. For 10 MPH Van Kirk layered in multiple textural “found sound” elements to the groove, including a pipe from the New York portion of the Erie Canal, firecrackers from a dirt road along the Ohio border, and static from a power line in Indiana. I am loving those vocals and dreamy harmonies which are backed by a captivating production that pairs steady drum patterns with catchy guitar plucks, lush strings and rhythms that together create such a warm, intimate atmosphere that got me hooked right from the very first listen.
Speaking about the trip and song, Charles Van Kirk said,
This trip leaves me, among other things, dumbfounded by the vastness of this country. The song ‘10 MPH’ is a collector of dust and gravel, of 100 degree afternoons with roadside ice cream stands, of cheap motels and priceless campsite views, of kind strangers who I’ll probably never see again. This trip was maybe the deepest thing I’ve done as a human on the planet. Every couplet in this song conjures a particular place or image or something that happened to me. Traveling at 8-10 mph per day is such a meditative exercise. For the most part I didn’t listen to anything, podcasts, music. I was fully present and open to the elements. Going through life that way is really enriching. Everything is heightened — colors and smells and conversations with strangers. It was two and half years ago now when I started, and it’s still so vivid to me.