Love songs have given us a pretty convincing formula: find someone, fall in love, overcome the obstacles, and live happily ever after. But what happens when reality refuses to follow the script? M & J’s “NOT A LOVE SONG” steps outside that familiar romantic narrative, turning the idea of the love song itself into a playful commentary on everything that can go wrong between wanting someone and actually being wanted back.
“I really wanted to / Write a love song / For you,” they begin, repeating the confession before quickly undercutting it: “Wouldn’t it be cool to write a love song / Apologies, you may want to stop listening cos this ain’t one.” It is cheeky, self-aware, and immediately establishes the contradiction at the heart of the track.
M & J build the song around an intricate acoustic guitar soundscape and brooding timbre, gradually opening into textured drums and a laid-back, soulful groove. Fiddle riffs add a cinematic quality, while brief pauses and catchy hooks give the arrangement an easy, organic movement. It feels intimate and inviting, but never overly polished.
The real heart of “NOT A LOVE SONG,” however, lies in its writing. “You don’t get to / Choose who you love and who you / Lose” captures the uncomfortable reality behind unrequited love. Sometimes the feelings arrive without permission, and sometimes the person you imagined a future with simply does not imagine the same thing.
M & J keep that disappointment from becoming overly heavy through humour. “Some other chump is probably there” lands almost as a punchline, but there is genuine vulnerability underneath it. The song feels like someone laughing at their own romantic expectations while quietly admitting how much they cared.
By the time they sing, “I’ll save the words and the love song for someone right,” the track has moved from longing towards acceptance. And perhaps that is what makes it so unexpectedly sweet.
For M & J, “NOT A LOVE SONG” may not be the love song they originally wanted to write, but it becomes something more honest: a warm, soulful, and witty portrait of loving without being loved back, and learning to save the song for someone who will!