Ahead of co-headline tour dates with Naima Bock in November, Gently Tender dig into the archives and share the home-spun beauties of ‘Country Folk’.
A song “written a long time ago” – revived in collaboration with producer Syd Kemp – new single ‘Country Folk’ feels like Gently Tender stripped back to their quintessence. The ethereal, sky-scraping escapisms of last year’s debut album ‘Take Hold of your Promise!’ – with its epic brass and wall-of-sound orchestrations – have been brought back down to their roots with a decidedly pared back arrangement.
All of Gently Tender’s most treasured qualities are gifted to us here in stark, humble definitions: soulful melodies as sweet as pecks on the cheek, a heart-warming chorus drifting down to our ears like falling leaves; an orange, autumnal cosiness enveloping everything. And not forgetting the vocals of Francesca Brierly that just help the track glow with pure love.
And like all the band’s best work, it’s laden with reflection, with deep spirituality and a sense that some of life’s most valuable lessons were learnt to enable its creation. “It’s a song about not getting stuck in the past”, vocalist/guitarist Sam Fryer explains, “and finding contentment in your present, even if it’s not what you expected.”
Photo by Rosie Carne
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