Today's Song: Yellow Days Bares His Soul in "Hurt In Love"

Yellow Days underscores his psychedelic, soulful nature in the emotional “Hurt In Love.”

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George Van Der Broek, otherwise known as Yellow Days, has been on a roll since releasing his Harmless Melodies EP back in 2016. The 18 year old singer-songwriter and producer began honing his soulful sound DIY style in his bedroom and self-releasing the tracks onto his SoundCloud. Since then, Yellow Days has been recording his upcoming debut full-length album Is Everything Okay In Your World? (out October 27 via Good Years) in a professional studio space and the newly crisp, grand production of his sound can be heard in his recently-released track, “Hurt In Love.”

Listen: “Hurt In Love” – Yellow Days

The song’s opening synths that spiral and drizzle down until the end embody the significance of what Yellow Days means. Broek has synaesthesia, a condition in which when hearing a sound produces the visualization of a color, and in his case, he sees a yellow mist over his music. The color intensifies the more emotive the music becomes and “Hurt In Love” is a song that overflows with emotion. Broek opens the track by pouring out his soul.

As I lay in the confines of my own mind
And the cracks I find
I wonder if I wasted your time bringing you here
I watched the flood of your crystal clear tears
As they slipped from your eyes
As I slipped from your mind

The breakup between two people who once loved each other is still raw and tender. The ethereal high that their love once gave them has now come crashing down and weighs heavy on Broek’s heart. He thinks about their relationship and questions if the joy that came from it was worth the current sorrow and heartbreak. His faded and fuzzy backing vocals cry out in pain as the gentle twangs of his guitar soar over them.

I hear the strangest sounds
Falling down these holes in the ground
I can’t think
Held back tears but I won’t blink
As I stand on the brink

The despair has sunken him into a seemingly bottomless pit. A hallucinatory keyboard swirls down with him and drums crash at the beat of an almost lifeless heart. It hurts him so much to end something that he still loves that he considers not ending it at all before ultimately deciding that it’s the best thing to do for both of them.

Watch: “Hurt In Love” – Yellow Days

A haunting synth leads the song out, darker than the one that lead us in, and his vocals become distorted as his reality becomes deformed. Yellow Days’ influences range from Mac DeMarco to Frank Ocean and both of their instrumentations can easily be heard in “Hurt In Love.” His stylings are compared to King Krule but the impassioned, earnest, and stirring vocals in his music are all his own. His young age makes his talents all the more impressive and his career will hit a major height before he even hits his 20s.

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