Premiere: Anxiety & Doubt Submerge Freddie Dickson’s Aching “Slip of the Heart”

Freddie Dickson © Danny Feng
Freddie Dickson © Danny Feng
Singer/songwriter Freddie Dickson captures anxiety’s dark depths in his new single “Slip of the Heart,” a beautifully fragile song that must break before it heals.
Stream: “Slip of the Heart” – Freddie Dickson
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No matter how confident we can feel at times, there is no direct escape from self-doubt; we can fend off the anxious thoughts as much as we want, but they remain in our minds like an ugly plague, clouding our vision from time to time, to drown us in a terror of our own creation. Singer/songwriter Freddie Dickson captures anxiety’s dark depths in his new single “Slip of the Heart,” a beautifully fragile song that must break before it heals.

Slip of the Heart - Freddie Dickson
Slip of the Heart – Freddie Dickson
When you’re tired of your mind
You can’t feel no more
So what did I mean when I said I’ll be loving you
When I was all but sure I was through
A slip of the heart took over me
A slip of the heart is what I need

Atwood Magazine is proud to be premiering “Slip of the Heart,” Freddie Dickson’s second single of 2019 and the latest release off an upcoming sophomore album. A British singer/songwriter in the vein of Neil Young and Leonard Cohen, Nick Cave or Sharon Van Etten with a grittier edge, Freddie Dickson emanates through his music the sort of darkness that feels more pure and raw than it does ominous or dramaticized. “Slip of the Heart” rises slowly out of a space full of air and breath, slowly closing in on listeners as Dickson’s electric guitar work grows more and more savage and all-encompassing.

Eventually, the listener goes from frolicking through blissful harmonies, to submerged in the artist’s inner, pained depths.

“The song is about the self-doubt and anxiety that comes with trying to find your way and how sometimes you have to go down to come back up again,” Freddie Dickson tells Atwood Magazine. “From wanting to give up to feeling like you’re doing the right thing, the song is a reminder that no matter how difficult things can get it’s important to remember why you are following the particular path you have chosen.“

Freddie Dickson © Chris Montgomery
Freddie Dickson © Chris Montgomery
I’d be lying if I said
I hadn’t thought to run
From this city that I’ve breathed for so long now
But when I left I could see it’s where I belong now
A slip of the heart took over me
A slip of the heart is what I need

Dickson continues, “At the time I was living in fear about what my next move would be after I parted ways with my label in London. I kept wondering if I was actually good enough or even belonged in this crazy music industry at all. Although terrifying, this blank canvas enabled me to reset and think a bit more about what i actually wanted from from my music. It was this ‘backwards step’ that gave me the time to figure out my sound and my approach to songwriting and made me realise that the music had to come from me as opposed to other outside influences. It was the first song i wrote for the album and it really paved the way sonically for the overall feel of the record.”

From listening to Dickson’s impassioned howl – the way he croons the words, “I think it’ll be alright,” holding onto that last syllable like it’s one of the most important breaths he’ll ever take – it’s difficult to imagine such a talent having insecurities. Yet doubt follows everyone like a looming specter, plunging us into the worst caverns of our minds when we’re most vulnerable.

But I could be the one that leaves you darling
You could be the one that dreams for me
I never think I could let you go
You’re in my blood, you’re all I know
But I think it’ll be alright, I think it’ll be alright
If you lean on me
I think it’ll be alright, I think it’ll be alright
If you lean on me

But I could be the one that leaves you darling; you could be the one that dreams for me

There’s a certain romance to Dickson’s poignant melancholy; the artist sinks into sorrow slowly before taking the full plunge, engulfing himself and listeners in a raw, deeply emotional outpouring of inner pain:

When you’re trying all you can
And there seems no sign
That you’ll get what you want
It’s so hard to believe it still
Then you find it in yourself
To reach out to someone else
Who believes you will

This is the kind of music that makes us feel – that helps us to connect with, and start to overcome our own demons. “Slip of the Heart” reminds us that pain is fleeting, but necessary; indeed, sometimes we need to dive down before we can look up. Stream Freddie Dickson’s new music exclusively on Atwood Magazine!

But I think it’ll be alright, I think it’ll be alright
If you lean on me
I think it’ll be alright, I think it’ll be alright
If you lean on me
A slip of the heart took over me
A slip of the heart is what I need
Stream: “Slip of the Heart” – Freddie Dickson
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Slip of the Heart - Freddie Dickson

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