Live Review: PREMIERE: HTMLflowers' new single 'Diamontees On Your Coffin'
The incredible HTMLflowers first release of 2017 is a careful and well-crafted lyrical goldmine in the form of a eulogy to a friend.
The incredible HTMLFLOWERS (One half of Lossless/One half of Brother’s Hand Mirror/zine creator/all around above and beyond creative) is back with a new single that is some of his most poignant work yet.
‘Diamontees On Your Coffin’ is a straight up eulogy for a friend. It’s unabashedly honest in the way that it recounts his experience in dealing with the death of a close friend. It took over two years to complete- and rightly so. The track is stylistically classic HTMLflowers, featuring his trademark drawl, vocal loops and busy production.
Lyrically, it is a goldmine, in the way that it covers a lot of complex emotional thought processes – namely, the opening line, “No body had ever told me I’d saved their life before". The line develops throughout, saying, “...told me I saved you, we both know that ain't true.” Near the end, it finishes just as it started, with the line, “told me I saved you, we both know…" which purposely trails off. It’s a touching albeit grim movement towards acceptance that is especially meaningful with the lyric, “I heard that forgiveness is giving up hope for a better past.”
Plug into the latest music with our FREE weekly newsletter
The track, serving as a eulogy, is HTMLflowers' movement forwards in recognising the set nature of the past. He has said before that he sings to deal with life, and he has done that once more here, even on the track asking his departed friend that if the 'diamontees' on her coffin were the ones she wanted. It’s an intimate exploration of the grieving process without having to fall upon cliché or melodrama. In the end, it is a song to a friend and that can never be passè.
HTMLflowers has always been a lyricist of substance who would never shy away from tackling serious issues. He understands that music isn’t just about having a good time, but is an important catalyst for honest communication. HTMLflowers writes verses to organise his thoughts and puts them over beats to give them the ability to be expressed and more importantly, heard.
‘Diamontees On Your Coffin’ is HTMLflowers' first single of the year and will most likely not be his last, as always he is as busy as can be. We just hope he's found some closure in this new track, and we're honoured to premiere it for him.
Nab your own copy of 'Diamontees On Your Coffin' via HTMLflowers' Bandcamp here.
Photo credit: Maddie Stephenson
Words by Lloyd Crackett
SEE ALSO
More From Our Network
