Recommended Tracks: “Angel,” “June,” “Never Get Old”
Artists You Might Like: Jack Johnson, John Mayer, LANY
It’s possible that the love you feel in one relationship will be absent in another. It’s possible that a relationship that you once thought was solid was actually unstable. When it comes to dating and being in love, you never know what you’re going to get. And when you get out of a relationship, the feelings and experiences you deal with are just as mystifying. On his debut album, Glide, Fiji Blue taps into what it is like to go from falling out of love to falling in love – all while preserving his reputation as a “bittersweet optimist.” At its heart, it’s an album that evolves around people and the lasting impressions they make on our lives.
Throughout Glide, Fiji Blue finds himself dealing with loss. On opening track, “Angel,” he tries to process a breakup, knowing very well that he was at fault. Over the colorful guitar riffs and keyboard chords, he asks, “Is it too late to call you my angel? / Please pick up the phone / Is it too much to ask to come over? / I can’t be alone,” chasing after a chance for reconciliation. The next two tracks, “Adjust” and “Start Over,” also contain that sad boy vibe, as Fiji Blue struggles to move past the breakup. Even though both tracks have such moving lyrics, like “I miss you hopelessly / I miss your touch / I miss you holding me / I can’t adjust” on “Adjust” and “‘Cause I can’t move past why it had to end / I don’t know if I’ll ever love again” on “Start Over,” their chill yet upbeat soundscapes give them that “bittersweet optimist” sound that Fiji Blue is known for.
There are also times on Glide when Fiji Blue tries to accept the inevitable. He notices that the house he lives in is still tied to someone no longer in his life on “Shadow of You,” singing, “And the tears are drying on my face again / No matter what I do now / There’s a shadow of you in this house.” While he wants to move on, he knows that the memories of what once was will live on forever – if he doesn’t move out. On “One Last Time,” he turns the tables by hoping that he will stay on the other person’s mind. Backed by acoustic guitar and percussion, he sings, “You never really cry / Until you say goodbye / So I hope I’m on your mind just one last time,” wanting the upper hand. With “Pink,” Fiji Blue takes us back to those complicated moments before the breakup. He takes note of changes in this other person’s outfits and wardrobe, signaling that something is wrong. It’s an interesting perspective and a moody experience, complete with soulful vocals, drum breaks, and expansive grooves.
Through it all, however, love is not lost. Described by Fiji Blue as a song “about connection, where love is effortless and never-ending,” “Peppermint” captures the charm of falling in love and having love in your life. Listeners will get lost in the joyful guitar strums and kindhearted lyrics, where Fiji Blue mentions, “When your kiss tastes like peppermint / It’s like cold wind I’m breathing in / But it feels like the sun is coming out / And it’s never coming down.” If you can believe it, the romance gets turned up a notch on “Never Get Old,” a lush pop song with a vibrant 80s flair. Adorned with dazzling synth riffs and feel-good melodies, listeners will feel right in the middle of all the heart bursting feelings, especially when surrounded by lyrics like “Loving you is easy / And missing you is hard / We started out as friends and look where we are / It still feels like the first day / Dancing in your car.” The album even comes to a close with “Beautiful,” another pure explosion of love and romance. It has everything that you would think of when it comes to a love song – piano, strings, tender vocals, and swoon-worthy lyrics. Fiji Blue gives us pure poetry with lines like “The stars in the night sky / The start of a sunrise / But looking in your eyes / Nothing’s as beautiful / As you,” and leaves fans wanting more.
All in all, Glide is not as straightforward and effortless as its name suggests. It is full of bumps and dips, full of emotions that are not easy to process, and full of music that does not stay in its own lane. Yet, there is something so freeing and smooth about each track that makes listeners feel as if they are on an upward trek, gliding towards a better horizon. In the end, that might just be what Fiji Blue was aiming for with this album. He previously explained, “This album was written during a period of personal transition. There’s a lot of adjustment that comes with dealing with the end of relationships, feeling stuck in the middle trying to process all these intense feelings at the same time…It was like starting from scratch, both emotionally and in terms of writing songs themselves.” With Glide, Fiji Blue has made it to the other side.
You can listen to Glide on platforms like Spotify, SoundCloud, and Apple Music.
Keep up with Fiji Blue: Instagram // X // Facebook // TikTok // YouTube // Website
