I've been "sitting" on this post for a while now but can contain my enthusiasm for this gorgeous song no longer. There's no denying that Ed Drewett has provided me with some of my very favourite music this year (both through his own singles - Drunk Dial & Undefeated - as well as penning songs for others - Stooshe's Kiss Chase, Olly's Dear Darling & 1D's Best Song Ever) even if it hasn't bought him the solo chart success he deserves. It has - to focus on the positive - bought him critical raves from both online & written press, garnered him a reputation as a go to guy if you want a guaranteed smash penned and his songwriting for others has undoubtedly given him the freedom to make the music he wants, when he wants. The track I'm writing about today, Blink, has actually been around for a while (you can hear early versions on that youtube thingy) but came to my attention thanks to a couple of album promos for Ed that did the rounds earlier in the year. On these promos, it sounds a bit more polished and refined but the beauty of the song was always there. At it's charmingly beating heart, Blink is a song of redemption, of hope, of optimism and of love. Yes, the lyrics in the verses are melancholy and doom laden ("we're grinding down/we're no hopers now") with Ed worn down by the weight of the world on his shoulders but it's his sincere, heartfelt and earnest plea in the chorus that makes the song soar - "it's going to take love and the light to save us all/blink twice and the light will save us all"; even in his darkest moments he believes that there is salvation out there - that situations can change in the fleeting flutter of a butterfly's wings if you just cling to that hope. The song is lyrically poetic, intimate and personal throughout with clever analogies (such as "When I'm under fire from all around, I enter space and I bring it down") exquisitely underscoring how we've all felt at some time in our lives & expressed in a way that brings the song into vivid focus. The music is so perfectly placed throughout the song too - it weaves intricately throughout the narrative breathing life into the song & giving Ed's heavenly vocals the canvas they richly deserve. The song starts through the first verse and chorus with a gently strumming guitar before a soothing percussive beat is added in the second verse. This late addition of drums gives the tune some visual imagery - conjuring up pictures of walking through deserted streets at night while you attempt to make sense of your life; the elegiac strings in the second run through of the chorus bring an elegant touch to the proceedings - and during the final chorus they cascade through the production like shooting stars, indelibly imbuing the last few moments with something magical & uplifting. Pay attention to the very lovely middle 8/bridge too - the delicacy of that fragile piano riff highlights the ever so tenuous grasp we have on being able to control things and makes the perfect lead into that magnificent final chorus. In a week where I've been organising nursing home care for a mum that barely remembers me & supporting a dad whose hospitalised from the stress of it all, Blink has bought me to tears more than once but in a way that has given me the power to make everything at least a little bit right. And you can't really ask for more than that - Blink is to Ed Drewett as Angels was to Robbie Williams; an undeniable hit that at some point in the future will be sung by the masses.
Listen to Blink on Ed's official soundcloud.
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