Scotland’s Tommy Ashby has released another look into his upcoming album Mantis with the devastating single “Finish Line.” With its soft vocal delivery and large soundscape, the song is a must-listen to for lovers of Bon Iver and Novo Amor.
The song explores a relationship whose overbearing love clashes with protectiveness and closure. In the first verse, Ashby describes a lover as “feeling so weak and it’s gonna bite.” This sense of pain is supported by echoed drums and a bare piano that start off the song but soon grow with the lyrics’ narrative. As the chorus enters, the drums pick up, with some guitars adding more texture. The repeating chorus, “Cause I love you too / I love you to death” emphasises the growing agony of the song as Ashby tries to reconcile what’s left of the relationship.
This reconciling is processed in the second verse with the lyrics, “We live in the cold grey space on the borderline.” But this attempt at closure is cut short with the striking imagery of “Stop burning your lungs just to feel alive.” The second verse starts to see the downfall from all the loss as the lovers “crawl across the finish line.” The instrumentation stays the same for most of the song, which can feel a bit too repetitive and monotone with the song’s simple fade out. While the sound is suited for a modern folk song, it just seems to cut off. This doesn’t change the overbearing sense of burden in the song, however, with the finishing “The only thing that makes you mine / I love you to death.”
“Finish Line” is a softly delivered song about the turmoil of a collapsing relationship. Its hushed tone and quiet manner only add to its sense of unavoidable heartbreak. The single is set to be featured on Tommy Ashby’s upcoming album Mantis, releaseing on the 6th of June.
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