Brighton-based indie singer-songwriter Matilda Cole is a fresh face on the indie scene. Her newest cut, ‘Camden’, transports us to the moment of her family breaking apart, noting her parents “don’t even speak to each other now / hard to believe what they used to have.” Her Maggie Rogers-esque vocals are solemn, demanding you pay attention to each detail her lyrics pick out.
This achingly personal track displays the importance of geography in music, and similarly, in our lives. The story we are told sees the family split, and eventually move out of their, home, but the constant rhythm of the guitar and Cole’s descriptive narration keeps us rooted in her Camden dwelling. It’s clear that her repeated plea of “Can we go back?” isn’t just about Camden, but about everything it represents – security, her childhood memories, and more crucially, her parents’ marriage.
Musically, the track feels stripped back despite the layered harmonies and scales that sit beneath Cole’s story. The guitars remain relatively constant throughout ‘Camden’, frozen like the photograph of “that house in Camden” that Cole describes in the verse.
Cole’s use of lyricism make ‘Camden’ heart-wrenching beyond it’s simple structure. The track is more serious than her previous offerings and this more detailed approach to songwriting serves her well, and hints at great things to come.
Word by Martha Storey
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