‘Helen’, featuring on Sydney based indie artist, Circle’s forthcoming album, ‘Coco and Charlie’ is a sweet, but never saccharine tune that ticks all the right boxes for an Australian folk song.
There’s something melancholy, but cheerful in the juxtaposition of lyric and melody. Lyrics like, “Love Dad. Hate Mum. But hates strong. So, you try to get on” are layered so perfectly, over gentle playing, that any negative connotation behind the lyrics is almost non-existent.
Now, there’s nothing new here, but that’s not a bad thing, the song itself is comforting like a hot cup of coffee in the morning. The strongest element of ‘Helen’ is Radi Safi’s whispered voice. There’s so much emotion in the vocals that you can almost hear the smile on Safi’s face when singing about the story behind the song. That’s the song’s biggest charm – the feeling of nostalgia and appreciation.
We don’t need to know the whole story to know the impact the ‘Helen’ in question, had on Safi’s life. ‘Helen’ is uncomplicated and a strong example of great Australian songwriting. Listening to ‘Helen’, your mind immediately goes to a road trip with friends, having your hand out the window with none of you saying a word, just listening.
Circle is thriving with this indie-folk sound, putting a little ray of sunshine on a hard couple of years for Australian music.
