Life is weird at the moment. For many people a global pandemic is not something that they are totally familiar with, or indeed have any experience of at all. However, as has been stated before on this site, it has also provided various artists with the opportunity to explore their sound and inspirations and create pieces of work that might necessarily have come about otherwise.

An example of an artist who has taken this time in lockdown to start to make more art is Galway singer-songwriter, Thomas McPartand. Performing under his artist name, Partland, the talented songwriter is currently in the process of building up to the release of his new album, The Empty Atlantic, due to be released in August.

The Galway man has began the build up to album number two with the release of the first single off it, Lonely As Me.

The instrumentation on the track is mellow and relaxed throughout the song, dominated by a calming and reassuring guitar rhythm at it’s core. The guitar is joined at different stages by a keys line and echoey effects, that help to create a sense of isolation and loneliness that is something many of us will experience at times during this time. Over the instrumentation, we have the delicate and thoughtful vocals of McPartland which serve to aid the message of the song.

The lyrics on the track are also particularly touching, and will resonate with many as they think about their own situation at the moment. As difficult as this time has been, most of us have began to realise the things that are truly important to us, and that is the people who make our lives better, and this is explored throughout the track. The protagonist of the song is sitting at home thinking about that special someone who would make this whole time so much easier, as they wait for a call. For many people, it has been difficult to completely escape a sense of loneliness through this time, and that need or desire for someone special who might be feeling the same will have been familiar to many. It is wonderfully explored here, in a song that feels like it was made for the here and now.

“Could you be, as lonely as me…?”

The music video is gorgeous as well.

MK