Hoger’s yearning to craft masterfully produced, resonant music shows no signs of dissipating on his third release, “Show Me How to Love.”
Stream: “Show Me How to Love” – Hoger
The disconnect between our intentions and how we are perceived is often monumental. Misinterpreted actions and sometimes even the subjective nature of language can mean that whatever we say or do is lost in translation. Some may say when we truly love and begin to understand and cherish someone, we can begin interpreting their words and actions in a way that allows us to further see who they truly are. However, as Rotterdam singer/songwriter Hoger suggests, even in the most loving of relationships, this absence of miscommunication and misinterpretation is often implausible.
The euphoric delight of falling in love is something that’s been depicted so often that it’s even though it’s an intricately unique experience, it’s something that’s commonly understood. The exhilarating rush of a first kiss, the all-consuming nervousness that comes with meeting their family and their constant occupation in your mind are all hallmarks of that initial infatuation. What is not so clear is what comes next.
With his third single “Show Me How To Love,” Hoger conveys that sense of confused bewilderment with verve and zest.
I wanna stay, but I gotta go
I wanna love, but I’m scared to show
Before the cards are dealt, I wanna know
Does that sound like love to you
Am I the man you knew
In another light with a different view
If we leave and forget the rules
Does that not sound like love
Ominous sonics serve to exquisitely paint a vivid portrait of the confounding puzzlement that involves trying to demystify the intentions behind the actions of someone you love. Even in its relatively short run time, Hoger manages to encompass a span of different emotions but more impressively he manages to highlight the uniquely multifaceted nature of each individual feeling.
Speaking of the track, Hoger shared “SMHTL is based on a true story and it’s about two people in a relationship who love each other so much, but both do so in total opposite ways. It’s written from the perspective of one person who is basically asking the other how he/she wants to be loved the “right” way, because it feels like the level of affection is not balanced between the two.
He continues, “There could be an endless amount of reasons for this. Someone could have been hurt a million times before and just has a hard time giving his/her all this time around. The other person is potentially not used to this way of love and affection due to his/her upbringing and not being taught how to do so. This could be due to unloving parents, siblings or friends. The list goes on. It’s easy to point fingers and play the blame game, but just because someone does not love you the way you want them to, does not mean that they don’t love you as much.”
Show me how to
Cause it sounds like love to me
Love to me, love to me
Cause it sounds like love to me
Love to me, love to me
Show me how to
Hoger’s astonishing ability to convey that sort of complexity is evidenced not only on this track but his two preceding releases too. Atwood Magazine noted that on his previous single “Can’t Stand Not Loving You”, Hoger “exquisitely chronicles undying devotion and the whirlwind of accompanying feelings, that can range from excruciating uneasiness to boundless joy.”
Like all of the best artists, Hoger manages to distill sentimental situations into music that’s impossible not to relate to on a profound level.
He can seemingly effortlessly capture the intensity of entangled emotions but still level enough room for listeners to interpret relate to the music through their own subjective lens.
Considering the nature of this song, it is definitely fitting that the track is open to such vivid interpretation. The track almost pays a testament to the fact that every single experience we encounter, good or bad, shapes us in a way that allows us to be a truly unique individual. It is ultimately that uniqueness that makes us fall in love with someone but also paves the way for misperception.
I’ll be around when the music fades
This time around it’s like novocaine
We can be loud, we could overstay
Does that sound like love to you
Am I the man you knew
In another light with a different view
If we leave and forget the rules
Does that not sound like love
Underneath the brooding sound of this song, it is hard not to recognise still a glimmer of hope. It speaks to the life-changing power of love that we are willing to shift our behaviours to make someone be able to thoroughly realise how much they mean to us. Through those shifts, people can even shift their own self-perceptions as falling in love with someone else allow us to see ourselves more completely.
Despite those life-affirming undertones, the fabric of this track is still undoubtedly woven from a cloudy cloth. This is impeccably shown through the track’s absorbingly cinematic video. The darkened colour palette serves to accentuate the strenuous emotions embodied within the track itself. A series of shots embedded throughout the video with highlight Hoger’s anguished emotions manage to perfectly encapsulate the achingly painful and bewilderingly disconcerting experience of romantic agony.
In search of something immediately accessible, many other artists may take the easy route of embodying exclusively reassuringly familiar and digestible emotions in their work. For Hoger, that simply seems not to be an option. That is arguably what makes Hoger such an extraordinarily exciting artist.
Show me how to
Cause it sounds like love to me
Love to me, love to me
Cause it sounds like love to me
Love to me, love to me
Show me how to…
Cause it sounds like love to me
Love to me, love to me
Cause it sounds like love to me
Does that not sound like love
show me how to…
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Stream: “Show Me How to Love” – Hoger
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? © Daan Kamphorst
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