With a circuitous melody that unfolds like a quiet epiphany, Ally Kerr’s new single continues in his tradition of lilting, buoyant reassurances.
In every release, Ally Kerr has been quite the emotional carwash.
If you’re the wallowing kind – the sort to willingly dive into depths of chest-constricting heartache in both life and art – encountering a Kerr release, no matter the lyrical content or your present disposition, can provide a much-needed rinse.
His newest single, “King of Evermore,” is no different. Banking on the Scottish singer-songwriter’s “ability to transform melancholy into a beacon of light” (as a pre-release statement aptly described), this new single further builds on what has so far been a lilting, buoyant series of feel-good tunes.
Once again, Kerr’s voice is front-and-center: a warm, friendly presence rather than an arresting one, his affable character more comforting than reassuring, because when faced with a wide-eyed optimism such as his, you really have no recourse but to drink it all in.
I’ve said it of his earlier singles, and it bears repeating once more, albeit reframed: beyond the literal, more than all that’s explicitly said, Kerr’s composite spirit – formed from tone, tenor, and tact – shines through. And that spirit, as impalpable and ungraspable it may be, is his music’s magic sauce.
“You might see the darkness / maybe I, I just see the shadows glow / Seems you’ve lost that summer feeling, now I yearn for so much more,” he sings in “King of Evermore” – cherubic piano, guitar, cello, and voice in tow – and you just know he’s as invested in his messaging as he is in the outcome: a recalibrated outlook, a reconsidered reality.
Despite the tune’s circuitous melody, the listener is treated to it unfolding like a quiet epiphany, inviting listeners to find splendor despite the squalor. His music, though deceptively simple, is a testament to life being a grand and yet-to-be-filled canvas, urging us to appreciate the profound despite the profane.
“King of Evermore” is slated to be part of Kerr’s forthcoming new record ‘True Nature,’ his fifth outing, but also his second self-produced one. There is certainly some measure of consistency in Kerr’s understated work, but also moments of unbridled joy worthy of sprawling cinema.
Ally Kerr’s new single is out today. Stream it and feel better today.