The latest single of Tom Minor has something heartwrenchingly familiar about it that slaps you in the chest. The Loneliest Person on Earth sums up that particular type of heartbreak we are all familiar with- when the person you love most of all becomes a mirror of your own loneliness that is turned back on you.
Here the London singer-songwriter has created something truly moving, mixing his laid-back vocal approach with a melody that straddles the ideal balance between an indie rock and a folk sensibility. The delivery of Minor is as though you are listening to the thoughts of an individual, his question and answer style making it so intimate that you feel as though you are in the same room as this hard-hitting dialogue is going on.
I am most impressed by the emotional intelligence of this song. Instead of self-pity, Minor delves into the intricacies of two lonely individuals coming into contact with one another, and becoming even more isolated in the process. His crass, cynical wit slices through what might otherwise have been mere sentimentality, and makes something much more true-to-life and realistic.
Teaboy Palmer should also be credited with the production work, which produces a polished soundscape that never distracts the listener from Minor and his narrative. The instrumentation is constructed in an intelligent, progressive way, starting out very sparse and then becoming more complete, just as the emotional tension of the story does.
The different musical influences, which Minor has experienced, including punk and soul, come through without ever being cluttered. It has a maturity to it that indicates years of writing on other people has taught him what works in a song and what does not. The outcome is a song that is both relaxed and therapeutic and is able to pass as a ballad that rocks and a rock song that calms.
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