By Sindhu Vishwam
Listening to hundreds of songs laden with grand arrangements and instrument techniques that are definitely flattering to any musically educated ears, Nico Franc’s free-spirited acoustic song Forget About Us, hits like fresh air on a garishly sunny day.
Forget About Us, Nico’s 6th single, is a song about losing love that was once so familiar. The slow strumming guitar retains the slide squeak in the recording. Two seconds into the melody, the listener is already engorged in the wisp of melancholy, that slightly pinches the long lost memories of their own. Nico’s emotive vocals enter, weaving a story just before you take a deep dive into your own experience.
The lyrics focus on contrasts we have all encountered in the cycle of love. Nico stunningly portrays the irony in the lines,
“I saw her at the Sunday market,
the same place that we started,
now we’re just as anonymous as the day we met.”
The delicate finger-picked guitar melody in the verse ascends into a wavy arpeggio that signals the build up into the wait-worthy chorus. The smooth bass comes in to accompany the wistful lead in the chorus, while the backing vocals elegantly emphasise the reason for it all, “us.”
As the story continues in the second verse, Nico makes sure we are paying attention to the structure of the song. With new elements carefully placed for maximum heartache, the vocalisations hint us for what is to come.
The bridge descends into layers of ethereal vocalisation that gradually becomes louder, taking up all the space for the better. The main guitar melody takes a back seat, making way for strong, rhythmic guitar strums that opens up the song in a new direction all together.
Just when the listener is overcome with emotion, the instrumentation pauses as Nico draws all attention to the central idea of the song. He sings the chorus one last time as the song comes full circle with the initial guitar melody slowly putting the song to rest.
All in all, Nico Franc does poetic justice to the song with just well-crafted lyrics, pure vocals and a good guitar. Forget About Us proves that less is more. The effortlessness of the melody puts a spotlight on the artist’s enormous skills and highlights the magic of simplicity in all the right ways.
Go ahead and give this track a listen on Greaserelease's indie folk and acoustic music playlist right now!