Love & Joy is an incredibly stylish single by The Guv with a fresh and spacious modern-day twist. The Guvs’ performance offers the softness and emotion of a delicate yet experienced leading voice, and the way in which this particular song develops allows those qualities to really shine brightly.
Creatively, this whole track seems an unlikely meeting of releases, but the artists involved have made it work. The musicality throughout is vibrant and forever interesting, even minimal on occasion – falling away almost entirely at certain moments. On top of this, there’s an inherent sense of emotion at precisely the moments that require a little humanity and realness. Love & Joy
perfectly underlines the increasing depth and passion of true love through this piece of work, leading finally to a mellow and extremely moving rendition of the pace of true love. The arrangement of the track builds you up effectively to this point. It’s an unpredictable fusion of tracks, as stated earlier, but it works beautifully. The concept is exciting, being all at once familiar and fresh – recognizable yet new.
The structure of this song presents a number of changes throughout that come as quite refreshing and notably unpredictable. There are moments of complete calm, instrumental minimalism, and vocal intimacy – where your focus is entirely on the lyrics and the honesty of the writing. As the audience, we have to give a round of applause for the last violin part and it is amazing to listen to. Then in contrast, there are rising moments of intensity, sudden shifts in melody, and vibrant bursts of instrumentation that are matched and supported by the singer’s flawless ability to perform at either end of the spectrum.
The use of melody on this release is really enjoyable to witness. As stated, the intensity is there, the weight and hit of heavy music connect and satisfy, but there’s also a lot about it that is considerate and gentle. The melody has an alternative sense of emotion that contrasts quite beautifully with the screamo element. The instrumentation is distorted in more of a pop manner when compared to the average release, drawing fresh attention to this particular sub-genre in a masterful and compelling way.
As a performer, The Guv showcases everything required to make this kind of music reach out, particularly in a live setting. Let’s stay tuned with this amazing soul – there’s plenty more to come.