“Tough Love” shows a beautiful folk sound fit for sunshine. A single from David James Allen‘s new album Radiations, “Tough Love” is described by the Ontario-based artist as “about facing obstacles in relationships that challenge us to acknowledge who we are.” The twangy exuberance at 02:39 plays with grinning satiation, following a well-constructed series of lushly engaging guitars and vocal adornments. The multi-layered vocal expansion at 03:10 — “all the Earth is yours,” — also plays with warming beauty. With ample memorable moments, “Tough Love” is a winner from David James Allen.
The artist elaborates more on the track below:
“‘Tough Love’ is about companionship and a deep romance between two people; one of them is dying while their partner continues to live. This song is a reflection on what you’d say to your companion and lover in the case that you can no longer be by their side in the physical world. It’s a common situation in relationships; it happened to both my grandparents and also happened to my mother when my father died. These experiences caused me to think about what I might say in a similar situation and how we face obstacles in our relationships that challenge us to acknowledge who we really are and our relationship with time spent on earth.”
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“Tough Love” and other memorable tracks from this month can also be streamed on the updating Obscure Sound’s ‘Best of May 2020’ Spotify playlist.
The track is also featured in the genre-based, best-of Spotify compilation Emerging Indie Folk.
