Minding my own business this Thursday on November 2, I stumbled upon Vance Joy’s newest release “Like Gold“. It is still hot off the press, being only 4 hours old, but it already has ten thousand views! I’m sure it will be within the million range soon enough. What has me playing it over and over is how it sounds like Vance Joy completely, yet something is different.
The Australian artist has grown, yet managed to tailor his clothes to fit (he shouldn’t grow anymore, he is already 6 foot 4 inches). Musically he has grown. In previous songs like “Mess is Mine“, he had displayed his skillful guitar picking. His guitar has the sound of a deep harp in “Like Gold”. The coinciding bass drum and high pitched tambourine covers such a broad spectrum that you feel filled and slightly overwhelmed.
He eases us in with a beautiful melody in the first verse, then the bass drum punches through like a beating heart. And our heart beats as the tearful lyrics that dwell on the past bring about our own memories. Vance Joy has his own relationship history that he is a bit tight-lipped about, but he is presently open in telling interviewers how he is single. On a Radio 104.5 live casting a few weeks ago, I heard him speaking about how he is comfortably single. In a Q&A by 303 Magazine he said,
“I just think that in terms of meeting people you really connect with, it’s something you can’t really manufacture or make happen, it just happens when it’s supposed to happen or it takes you by surprise.”
These are words of experience. His songs deal with love and heartbreak in pairs. The lyrics, “Gold when you see me” makes us think of someone we are or were dating, that would light up as we walked into a room. We felt wanted, needed. But the heartbreak in the lyrics, “That’s the way it was, but that’s history” cuts like a knife. It takes me back to being a Freshman in high school listening to “Sometime Around Midnight” and feeling understood completely.
Vance Joy’s lyrics are honest and down to earth in a way that we can live in the words. So lay back and close your eyes letting “Like Gold” wash over you. Luckily, I don’t think we can wear this song out by February, which is when his new album “Nation of Two” will be released. I believe we will get a few more love songs and heartbreak songs with this release.
-Wesley A. Gehman