For a long time now, Covert Music Club have been a fan of the music of Raheny native Graham Mitchell. The Dublin man has been working away releasing music for the last few years, with a series of fantastic singles in his discography, including last year’s fantastic release, Fantasy Breakup.

Last week, the Dublin singer-songwriter released his most recent single to the world, and at a time when all of us are still having to come to terms with living in a world where our actions are more restricted than ever, this is a song that espouses the joys of a carefree life.

Throughout the song, our protagonist creates a scenario that will likely resonate with many listeners of the song. All of us will be familiar with feeling as though we have to act a certain way, almost like we are keeping up experiences and regulating who we are. A sense that we are living a lesser life and not getting to properly enjoy ourselves because we think it will be greeted with disapproval by someone else. This is something that can be extremely exhausting, almost like we are being made to feel ashamed of who we are, and these sentiments are hinted at throughout the song.

However, it is clear from listening to the song that we are being shown an alternative existence, where we are allowed to enjoy ourselves without having our actions and choices questioned afterwards. We are shown a sense of liberation and freedom that a lot of us try to live with, something which is ultimately more and more difficult to do as you get older and life’s responsibilities start to take hold.

“I don’t have to smoke with guilt upon my mind.”

The instrumentation on the song is upbeat and energetic with an acoustic guitar and driving drum beat carrying the song and helping to create the carefree feel of the song. It is another example of Mitchell knowing exactly how to use the music, just as much the lyrics, to tell the story at the heart of his songs.

It’s been a strange year. Many people will feel as though a lot of the things that we took for granted up to now have been taken, and our actions restricted through no fault of our own. Mitchell helps to remind us the joy that can come from just being yourself without any worries, let’s hope it’s something that we can all do soon.

MK