A radiantly raw and breathtakingly beautiful indie folk love song, Jessie Reid’s “A Little Closer” ft. Easymess aches with warmth and yearning, dwelling in an intimate space that might not last forever.
Stream: “A Little Closer” – Jessie Reid
The top of the year brings with it an inevitable assessment of the one that came before: Like a test or exam that none of us asked to take, we find ourselves reflecting on our actions, behaviors, and habits of the past twelve months. Perhaps we should all engage in such introspection a little more often – and many of us certainly do – but January is the universal, cultural, and communal standard: These first few weeks are a sort of psychological testing ground for all, as we segment our lives into “keep” and “throwaway” piles in a bold, brazen attempt to improve upon our past and make room for what’s to come.
One frequent topic of conversation as we go about this refresh is our love life: There’s never a better time to step back and cross-examine where you are in matters of the heart, and Jessie Reid’s latest release is the perfect song to soundtrack to your decision-making process. A radiantly raw and breathtakingly beautiful indie folk love song, “A Little Closer” ft. Easymess aches with warmth and yearning as Reid dwells in an intimate space that might not last forever.
Caught out once again
Caught out
Doing everything wrong
Far too long
Find me a lighthouse
To guide me on
You know I find it hard to tell
How far we’ve gone
Will you hold me a little closer
Will you hold me a little longer
Will you hold me a little closer
Will you hold a little longer
A little longer?
Atwood Magazine is proud to be premiering “A Little Closer,” Jessie Reid’s first single of 2023 (independently out now). Already an artist-to-watch and Editor’s Pick, Reid’s music is truly one-of-a-kind: Comparable to artists like Tommy Ashby, Tom Speight, and Memorial, The Shropshire-based singer/songwriter is one of the UK’s most promising indie folk up-and-comers, with an inherent ability to inject layers of breathtaking emotion and palpable feeling into everything she creates. Her breathtaking voice resonates against stunningly atmospheric and ethereal backgrounds, soaring high and sweeping low alongside rich, delicate harmonies that resonate with a rich and knowing warmth.
Last spring’s debut mini-album Other Hand showcased Reid’s natural ability to create visceral songs that cut deep into the core of our shared human condition, and that talent roared to life once again on September’s follow-up single “Hearts on Fire,” a gentle and intense outpouring that Atwood praised as “a smoldering indie folk song full of unbridled musical and emotional heat.”
One of her best songs yet, “A Little Closer” continues to find Reid reveling in her innermost depths, blending the pain and ecstasy of passion into an inspiring upheaval of love and longing. A duet with French-born, London-based multi-instrumentalist singer/songwriter Easymess (aka Adrien Latgé), “A Little Closer” reckons with the complex push-and-pull we experience in matters of the heart. We may love someone wholeheartedly in the present, while simultaneously knowing that our love, as powerful as it is right now, isn’t meant to last. How we go about reconciling that knowledge with our emotions is another story – one that is often complex, convoluted, and ultimately gut-wrenching.
Reid reflects this disconnect between the head and the heart in her song’s poignant lyrics – delivering them with incredible tenderness against a soft bed of guitars. “A Little Closer” is, for all intents and purposes, a soothing folk lullaby: One that stirs the soul, while breaking our hearts in two.
In my heart I got lost
Words unspoken again
Too scared to use
Place your hand
Back in mine
And let the space between us closer
One last time
Will you hold me a little closer
Will you hold a little longer
Will you hold me a little closer
Will you hold a little longer
While she may still be caught in the tempestuous throes of love, Reid is undoubtedly starting the year off right. She knows it, too:
“This might be my favourite song I’ve written to date!” the singer/songwriter tells Atwood Magazine. “I’ve always loved male-female vocal harmonies so to have Easymess featuring on the track is a dream. Ultimately it’s a love song – but quite an ‘unhealthy’ love song! It’s about feeling a bit lost and unsure of yourself in a relationship and knowing that thing’s aren’t right. Despite knowing this, you still want to feel a sense of comfort and love and to be held ‘a little closer’ – to hold on to some sort of hope.”
“So yeh – a love song, but not from the most emotionally healthy perspective I suppose!”
Love is mystifying, and “A Little Closer” doesn’t get us any nearer to understanding its inner mechanics, but Reid’s song does expose a common conundrum so many of us face. Do we stay with someone we love right now, even if we harbor doubts about the future? Is it worth it to hold onto something – really someone – who may not be right for us in the long run? Sometimes all we want is to be held; to feel that intimate connection with another human being.
Caught between short-term satisfaction and long-term sacrifice, Jessie Reid doesn’t necessarily have any answers – but she does have an achingly intimate, breathtaking new song. Relax your mind, surrender your heart, and get lost in the magnificent beauty and enchanting wonder of “A Little Closer.”
We’ll go our own ways
See you on the other side
We’ll go our own ways
See you my love
Will you hold me a little closer
Will you hold a little longer
Will you hold me a little longer
A little closer
A little closer
A little closer
A little closer
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Stream: “A Little Closer” – Jessie Reid
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