Some songs are just there to entertain you, others leave you with an idea that lingers in your head long after the song has finished. “Let’s Imagine” achieves both of those things, providing an uplifting musical journey which is underpinned by a very unusual vision of what a better world might be like.From the very first note it’s a very welcoming piece of music. There’s a real warmth in the acoustic guitar, a lovely emotional element from the piano and a rhythm section that gradually brings the song to life. As the arrangement progresses the inclusion of some sweeping strings gives it a much broader, more cinematic feel. It’s not a hurried piece at all. It’s very much a piece that builds slowly, with the emotion of the song growing as each section unfolds. What I really like about ‘Let’s Imagine’ is the sense of progression. It starts off in the realm of the personal and very intimate and then moves into the realm of a collective statement. That’s what gives the song its character really. It doesn’t just want to be heard, it has the feel of something that could be shared, something that could be sung together and taken on by others.The central conceit of the song is just as fascinating. Rather than the usual route of advocating for political reform within the existing system, “Let’s Imagine” takes a very different approach in that it imagines a world in which we live without governments at all, a world in which we are all organising our own lives through voluntary cooperation and in which technology is used to facilitate that freedom. It’s a bold idea and the song’s real strength is in the way it brings that conversation to you through the medium of melody and feeling rather than via any kind of polemic.You don’t need to share every facet of its philosophy to admire the sheer creative胆 in the approach. In a world full of songs that are just going to rehash the same old themes, there’s a real sense of originality in an artist who is prepared to put a rather unorthodox idea at the heart of a melodic, very accessible piece of music. It leaves the listener to make up their own mind about it, which is in itself part of the appeal. There’s an obvious link to John Lennon’s “Imagine” and the whole tradition of the idealistic song. The point isn’t just that it’s a reference to a song of great stature. The point is that the song is in fact reworking that tradition from a very different ideological position. The conventional song about a better world tends to be one about unity through shared institutions. “Let’s Imagine” is very much about individual freedom, voluntary association and the possibilities of living outside the traditional structures.
That gives the track a distinct identity. Its ambition isn’t just to celebrate some utopian future, it’s to prompt the listener to think about how such a future might be imagined. the balance of simplicity and scale is very effective. The acoustic elements add a real human feel and keep the song grounded, the piano and strings provide the expansive emotional dimension and the drums and bass give it the drive without detracting from its reflective nature. It all comes together to create that uplifting atmosphere which makes you want to go back to certain sections and hear them again.Perhaps that’s where the song is at its most powerful in its ability to take an abstract concept and make it an emotional one. Ideas such as freedom, co-operation and social organisation can easily become remote and complicated when discussed in purely intellectual terms. Music provides another route in. A tune can make an idea feel personal and a building melody can take a solitary thought and make it into something that is shared.The response at the live shows (people raising their phones and getting into it) seems to indicate that “Let’s Imagine” is the kind of song that can actually achieve that. There’s a certain magic in a song doing that sort of thing, where it goes beyond the stage and becomes a moment that the audience are actually part of.
For me the most compelling thing about this release is the way it looks forward. It takes the emotional language of the classic message song and applies it to questions that are very much pertinent to the current debate around technology, autonomy and the relationship between the individual and the institution. It’s going to provoke debate and that’s exactly what makes the song so interesting. “Let’s Imagine” is also a case in point of the potential of independent music to be a space for ideas that don’t quite sit in the mainstream. An artist doesn’t necessarily have to offer a complete vision of the future in order to be of value. Sometimes all it takes is a good piece of music that poses a compelling question and that will start the conversation. “Let’s Imagine” works because of the warmth of the instrumentation, the gradual build of the arrangement and the sheer desire to present an alternative vision of society. It has the emotional qualities of a singalong, the introspective nature of a singer songwriter record and the ambition of a song that wants to be about something more than just itself. “Let’s Imagine” is a very positive, idea-led record which is very acoustic and has a huge musical atmosphere. It’s a song that is both pleasant to listen to and one that actually makes you think. It’s a song that’s got melody and message in equal measure and is a great example of the sort of independent record with a point to make. If you’re into that sort of thing then it’s definitely one to check out and it’s one that you’re likely to be left pondering the implications of after it’s finished.
