Today’s Song: Basking in the Kinetic Sunshine of Augustine’s Wondrous “Guts”

Love is beautiful in its unifying power, as Augustine so soulfully demonstrates in his soaring new single “Guts,” a moving song of affection and privilege.

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Stream: “Guts” – Augustine

There’s no feeling quite like waking up together with the one you love: You start the day with a drop of pure euphoria, feeling their heart beating next to yours as side by side, you begin your days together as one. Love is beautiful in its unifying power, as Augustine so soulfully demonstrates in his soaring new single “Guts,” a moving song of affection and privilege.

Counting ticks from the clock
It’s a morning too modest
She’s finding parts of my face
Funny looking and anxious

It’s a cruel world before
the eyes of these posh innocents
I would use her to stay alive
if the ground were to bend

Released October 18, 2019, “Guts” marks Augustine’s first song release since the 22-year-old Swede unveiled his debut EP this summer.

In premiering June 2019’s Wishful Thinking EP, Atwood Magazine hailed Augustine as an artist who should be on everyone’s radar, calling the record “a dazzling work of intimacy, enchantment, and innovation.” The EP introduced Augustine’s high-flying voice and his incredibly wondrous melody-making, featuring tracks like “Luzon” and the enchanting “A Scent of Lily,” a dizzyingly exciting track that captures infatuation’s paralyzing intoxication.

Augustine returns to place his feet on the ground in “Guts,” while his head is still up in the air. He sings passionately in a colorful chorus full of expressive and indulgent energies:

And baby pulls her hair for a Vicodin
She falls flat on the bed again
Mutters something about the end
While covering her eyes with both her hands

I on the other hand
I feel fine with the way I am
I awoke to her elegance
I’ve figured out a way to make amends

The artist’s new single offers multiple noteworthy messages, acting as both a stunning indulgence of love and an impressively self-aware recognition of privilege and one’s own advantages in life. “‘Guts’ is about a hangover morning together with someone you adore and the irony of you both complaining about your mood when you were privileged enough to go out and have fun the night before,” Augustine says of the track. “It’s a way of telling myself to shut up whenever I start feeling sorry for myself. I wrote it on the Swedish island Gotland this summer. Those weeks gave me time to reflect, and I guess ’Guts’ is a result of that: Realizing that I’m so lucky and should focus more on the positive things in life.”

Musically, Augustine says this is a long time in the making. “The piano instrumental has been with me for a long time and is inspired by classics from acts such as Elton John and ABBA that I listened a lot to when I was younger. I’ve played this exact piano loop every time I’ve sat down at a piano for many years, but I’ve never found a good context for it — until now.”

”Could you cut open all of my chest
I’m already too restless
Of course I’m feeling depressed
Find a way we could use it”

It’s a cruel world before
the eyes of these posh innocents
I would use her to stay alive
if the ground were to bend

My my my
We’re pretenders
We’re beaming
We’re the signs of our time
My my
Oh whatever

Interestingly, “Guts” – a word never actually uttered in the song itself – simultaneously basks in the belly of a relaxed state of connection and togetherness, while also recognizing how special it is to be able to feel this way. Perhaps it shouldn’t be, but for many it’s a luxury to wake up in the morning and enjoy the company of the one you love. Leisure time is itself a luxury –  but how often do we hear that recognized and appreciated in song?

Augustine’s reveling in this unique space of love and acute self-awareness makes “Guts” a truly impressive song of its generation, and one with something important to say.

And baby pulls her hair for a Vicodin
She falls flat on the bed again
Mutters something about the end
While covering her eyes with both her hands

I on the other hand
I feel fine with the way I am
I awoke to her elegance
I’ve figured out a way to make amends

Already an Atwood Magazine Editor’s Pick, Augustine has once again lit a sonic blaze with “Guts” – a song we’ll be listening to through 2020.

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Stream: “Guts” – Augustine

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