In a day and age where almost everybody can easily write and release new music, with minimal means and to a quality that improves by the day, it takes a special talent to stand out.
‘Lost Souls’ is the debut single of KJ Hand. Based in the Midlands, Kev has toured Europe with his band ‘Yeah Jazz’, so naturally, he’s not a fresh face to music, having been at it since his school days. This experience surely gained him sensibilities that show up in excess over his debut single.
‘Lost Souls’ is a heart-wrenching ballad about unrequited love. Piano-driven with the predictable syrupy melancholy in the words, and the music. What sets this song from the countless others is how tastefully everything is done, and how the details are added with a mathematician’s precision, ending up totally elevating the song to a whole different league. The piano, for a start, is a honky-tonk upright-sounding one, deliciously warm and trebly, with elegant reverb that allows it to truly take over and shine along with the beautifully melodic vocals and the heartfelt words. Kev doesn’t have the finest vocal texture, but he more than makes up for it by delivering every word from the depths of his soul. Perhaps this song is a little personal for Mr. Hand, or he’s just a very talented performer.
The addition of the choir was absolutely joyful. Singing beautiful harmonies that fade out as suddenly as they fade in, elevating the senses then leaving them wanting for more. The guitars are also used quite elegantly, wailing atmospherically at parts and playing crystalline and huge chords at others, and both to great effect.
‘Lost Soul’ might be a simple song in concept, but not in execution. Kev shows that superpower that music has, in that it’s a well that will never run dry. Provided that you have the heart to pour out your feelings on the recording, the most cliched musical ideas will readily bloom in your hands.