SINGLE REVIEW: SAM LEYDEN - IF WE HAD TO SAY GOODBYE

There's not lot of background #TEAMw21 can provide about Sam Leyden, he's based in Liverpool and he plays many of the instruments on his new single "If We Had To Save Goodbye", the rest being provided by Lucy McQuillan. At times it's not necessarily the most polished performance and no doubt given time and money, it could be audibly improved yet there is something here that time and money can't magic up and that is soul and this record most definitely has that in spades.

It opens to a rudimentary acoustic guitar, you can almost feel the concentration ensuring that the main strum comes out just right, yet it also comes with some delicately picked out notes. The lyrics perfectly picking out quite what the subject of the song means to them.

"You’re the sun in my December 

You’re the rain in my July 

When there’s cold and lonely weather

You know how to make it feel alright"

The chorus deals with the prospect of loss, the most obvious one being a romantic one but as Sam points out to us, it could also be a different type of loss, the heartfelt non specific lyrics could suit a number of situations. There are occasional fractional pauses on certain words, that somehow only adds to the authenticity, and the sparing addition of a slide guitar.

"So if we had to say goodbye 

I don’t think I’d ever find the words

All I would do all day is cry

Cause I’d miss you so much it hurts 

I’d keep your dead flowers by my window

I’d leave your notes on my bedside

I won’t wash your lipstick off my pillow

And I won’t wash you off my mind"

The chorus is followed by a short couple of lines that just point to the desperation to have an extra day, and extra week or month.

"Oh I would do

Everything that I could do

To keep you in my life"

The second verse sees the arrival of some basic accompanying percussion and more praise for the subject of the song. The third line sees the instrumentation drop entirely on the word "important" and Sam's vocal all but drops as if he is almost too choked to sing it.

"You’re that birdsong in the morning

And in the night you are the stars

To the world you’re what’s important

Girl, of me you are the best part"

The sound gradually builds up around Sam, so subtly that you barely notice the increase in volume, as Sam's vocal holds the attention. Towards the close there is a self taught slide guitar solo that somehow sounds all the better for not being too polished, it has a solemness to it that fits just perfectly.

It all fits together to ensure that Sam's message is conveyed with the honesty and passion that was intended.