In the first single from his upcoming debut album Brightest Days, New Zealand-based singer-songwriter Timothy Blackman takes a moment to reflect upon the place he grew up and the fondness that Wellington holds for him. “By The River” plays like a perfectly captured moment of serenity and peace, a calm and blissful sigh of contentment to be at a place that’s filled with nostalgia. In its delicacy, there’s also an introspection. The carefully plucked acoustic guitars elevate his new single into a profound look at childhood and growth.

The track explores in depth the somewhat jarring sensation that comes with returning to a place from your childhood, somewhere that featured heavily in the backdrop of your life in some of your most formative years. Being an adult in a place that you were a child in can often feels displacing, but Timothy Blackman finds the joy in this.

Of the process of writing the song, he said:

[su_quote]I wrote this song looking out at the ocean on the East Cape of New Zealand, where I was living for a number of years… it feels like a good combination of feelings from my favourite places.[/su_quote]

This sentiment has a simplistic beauty as it evokes the majesty of nature, the calm feeling that accompanies you when just observing an open body of water that has a stillness or a halting presence. The plain and frank lyrics also ring with sincerity: “By The River” feels particularly authentic. There’s a kind of poetry in the gently repeated hums that form the foundation of the song, carrying it from the bottom up. Watch the beautiful accompanying video below.

[su_youtube_advanced url=”youtu.be/NWJcplE3znw”]