Review by Emily Smith
The song opens with a quirky combination of an accordion meant to emulate old-timey French music and a hip-hop beat. As the song goes on, the listener realizes how many creative artistic directions the artist is going in – and most of all, how well it works together. This latest single, “L’Amour” is the opener to emerging alternative pop musician Georgia Fearn’s latest album Perfect on Paper, and it is certainly a strong one.
The opening lyrics read like a story before it dives into the typical song structure. The first lyrics spoken are, “You told me you were leaving/ ‘Cause I smoke too many cigarettes/ I broke the bad habit/ And I drove straight to your address.” Then, after seeing them kiss someone else, she says, “It’s time to break my bad habit…you.” At this point, the song turns into a reflection of how Fearn’s spiraling down after the incident.
Many of Fearn’s lyrics about this spiral have a distinct type of wit and personality attached to them. They’re often fairly dark, though they’re sung as if she doesn’t recognize exactly how dark they really are. Lyrics like, “Life goes on/ But that’s the saddest part,” are still sung in a fairly upbeat way, despite what they mean.
“In terms of lyrics, the first verse actually begun as a poem which I simply put to music, hence the spoken word element. I wanted this to be about the destructive nature of love as all of my songs take quite a dark route, something I’m known for,” says Georgia.
There is also a sense of self-awareness present in the track. One of the prominent lines in the chorus is, “Stay close every day/ Don’t tell me what to do/ I drink too much and I tend to smoke a lot too,” which references the reason why her ex left her in the first place. It also shows that she’s back on her smoking habit, which cues the listener into thinking that seeing them kiss someone else triggered all this.
Playing off of the French-sounding instrumentation, she incorporates a small amount of French in her lyrics. They are often mixed in with English, such as when she sings, “I’m high su l’amour.” It shows that Fearn is thinking about how exactly her lyrics are interacting with the overall sound of the song.
“When I was writing ‘L’Amour’ I knew that I wanted a song with a ton of quirky personality. The accordion motif was really important for me in the song, and the eerie strings and Celtic feel really made the track the oddball that I wanted it to be,” says Georgia.
The contrast between the tone of the overall sound and the lyrics is interesting to note. Fearn incorporates elements of a lot of different genres – such as pop, hip-hop, and even a little bit of jazz – and takes several creative risks trying to marry these genres together. She also uses these different elements to reflect her thoughts, such as using these dizzying strings to represent her spiraling and add a dramatic flair to the track. With all these successful creative risks, it’s clear that Fearn is having fun with this sound (despite the less-than-cheerful subject matter).
It’s always clear when an artist is bringing their creative best to a track, which is the case with “L’Amour.” The instrumentation has a kick to it, many musical elements are packed into the track, and the song has a ton of personality.
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