Indie musician Southey's latest offering is the sublimely beautiful 'I Know The Way', a song for lovers of intense songwriting offering respite from the daily toil of the modern world.
Formerly a mechanical engineer, the Sydney-based artist known for The Rooftop Sessions that he stages at his Manly creative space The Rooftop Studio, 'I Know The Way' was birthed after Southey recently possessed a 1965 Hofner guitar – the song's opening chords were the first he played on the instrument."The concept of the song 'I Know The Way' came to me after some recent experiences; I had been thinking a lot about purpose, and maybe how one's purpose could be to help others through struggles they've encountered themselves," Southey says.
"Whether that be some sort of vice, addiction, loss, or even say helping other musicians navigate a tumultuous industry and finding a place for their art."
Released last week, today scenestr is stoked to premiere the song's acoustic session video, which Southey self shot, edited, and produced at Myall Lakes National Park last month with a tripod and lavalier mics. Enjoy.
"I shot the live-session one evening whilst staying at Myall Lakes, one of my most sentimental retreats. You can see fish jumping out of the water in the video. It was actually quite distracting, and in front of me on the beach a few kangaroos were chewing grass very unfazed by my production."
Backed by a chorus of bustling cicadas adding a natural ambience, the song begins with Southey solemnly finger-plucking his guitar before his rich, earthy, smokey baritone vocals enter adding a depth that resonates intensely.
Serene and tender, 'I Know The Way' is a brooding indie folk number that meanders at a tranquil pace before morphing into an emotive-laden outro as Southey's unrelenting 'oohhhhhh, ooohhhhhhh, ohhhhhhhhhhhs' build a primal energy syncing with the potent cicada hum that will prickle the skin.
"The lyrics 'We'll wait in the line till the coasts clear', came from this image I had stuck in my head, of a film-like representation of escaping some sort of military-occupancy or gaol," Southey says.
"This developed into the concept of escaping one's own life-long struggle, and being a person to help others out of their own."
