Some songs truly transcend time and space: Bertie Newman’s latest single “I Will” does exactly that and instantly, from the first note played, the listener will know that they’re in for a beautiful listening experience.

Everything about this song is magical: from hearing the piano at work, recorded in a way that during the quieter moments you can hear the piano’s foot pedals at work (along with subtle wooden creaks) making you feel as if you’re sitting at the piano yourself. Whilst so much other music is over-polished these days, this organic element truly adds another dimension to the song and brings genuine heart to the song; we love that, whilst other artists may forget this, Bertie has this honest, almost-raw feeling that makes this song so personal – it really hit home for us as we listened to it countlessly on repeat trying to find words to do the song, and the emotions it invokes upon listening, justice.

“‘I Will’ explores the shift of my past pre conceptions and associations with particular objects, places and people to how I feel now. I wanted to show the change in my mental state by making an ultimately happy and hopeful song, sound sombre, just as I once felt.” – Bertie Newman

Bertie has, in our opinion, a wonderfully-warm and clear voice that works perfectly with the evocative piano and guitar lines. Any listener may, at first, draw comparisons to Daughter’s famous song “Youth”, though repeated listens demonstrate that the similarities are mainly reflected by the atmospheric nature of each song. In this song, Bertie skilfully uses dynamics to alter the pacing of certain passages and, crucially, remains in control by avoiding the temptation to turn the song into heart-wrenching crescendo akin to something such as “The Boxer” by Simon & Garfunkel – this tasteful, and conscious direction, exemplifies the way in which the song doesn’t fall in love with itself and remains true to its purpose – this, we feel, is a key feature of this release and a subtlety that endears us to it. A magnificent song that will raise your soul from your very first listen.

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