Taken off his ‘December’ EP, Will Swinton’s heartrending breakup song “Walls” sees the New Zealand-born singer/songwriter baring his soul in a beautifully dramatic, achingly vulnerable upheaval of love, loss, and longing.
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Stream: “Walls” – Will Swinton
It’s this painful realization that losing them means losing a piece of yourself. The song captures the emptiness that follows, the feeling of walls closing in.
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Heartbreak doesn’t last forever, but it sure hurts like hell in the moment.
There will be ‘better days’ ahead (or so we tell ourselves), but in order to get there, first we must weather our present storms – and Will Swinton’s “Walls” comes straight from the eye of his own intimate hurricane.
The third single off his upcoming debut EP December sees the New Zealand-born singer/songwriter baring his soul in a beautifully dramatic, achingly vulnerable upheaval of love, loss, and longing. As the world he once knew falls apart around him, Swinton reflects on the life and love he once had, and the version of himself he’s also losing in the process.
Because breakups are more than just a parting of people; when you say goodbye to someone, you’re also saying goodbye to the person you were with them.
The way you used to set me on fire
Something in your touch so cold
Maybe it’s the way that I’m wired
That’s keeping you from getting to close
Never meant to love me a liar
Loving you is all I know
Wish I could’ve held you tighter
I’ve been lost since you let me go
“’Walls’ is about the struggle of letting go of someone who, even though they weren’t good for you, became a part of you,” Swinton tells Atwood Magazine.
“It’s this painful realization that losing them means losing a piece of yourself. The song captures the emptiness that follows, the feeling of walls closing in as you grapple with who you are without them.”
I hate to think you were all I needed
Hate the way these walls keep closing in
I was begging you please don’t leave yet
So hold on don’t you run
I need you here
Forty nights of me still not sleeping
Forty days with a hole inside my head
I was lost when you lost all feeling
So hold on don’t you run
I need you here
Born in 2002, Will Swinton wasn’t around for the pop- and alt-rock music heyday, and all those visceral sonic upheavals that lit up the airwaves throughout the late ‘90s and early 2000s.
And yet, the 22-year-old’s songwriting feels right at home with acts like The Fray, Lifehouse, and Matchbox Twenty.
His impassioned voice is a beacon of breathtaking emotion, rising and falling with seasoned finesse as he channels his own inner angst and turmoil into cathartic release.
Maybe I was caught up in the moment
It never really crossed my mind
That you were gonna leave me hear hopeless
I’ve been walking down a faded line
And part of me to you seems broken
Was the part of you I held so high
Cause when you left it ripped me right open
How’d I love you for the longest time
As tender as it is tempestuous and ultimately all-consuming, “Walls” is a stunning display of both musical talent and raw, real heartache. Swinton’s better days will surely come someday, but today, he’s in the storm, and there’s nothing more to do but let his pain wash over us. The December EP is out December 13th via 10K Projects / Capitol Records!
I hate to think you were all I needed
Hate the way these walls keep closing in
I was begging you please don’t leave yet
So hold on don’t you run
I need you here
Forty nights of me still not sleeping
Forty days with a hole inside my head
I was lost when you lost all feeling
So hold on don’t you run
I need you here
I hate to think you were all I needed
Hate the way these walls keep closing in
I was begging you please don’t leave yet
So hold on don’t you run
I need you here
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Stream: “Walls” – Will Swinton
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© Bryce Glenn
© Bryce Glenn
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