Tough Love by Simon Joyner

For fans of The Velvet Underground, Champion Trees, Leonard Cohen, the 90s wave of melancholic singer-songwriters, and the tragedy hiding behind the eyes of everyone you pass on the street, Tough Love by Simon Joyner explores the many strange ways we grieve and love through a warm folk sound with a dense foundation of experimental influence. Cleverly illustrative lyricism searches for the intention behind our sometimes guarded and post-ironic displays of affection, ultimately revealing all love and grief to share the same essential emotional dna. This common ancestor takes the musical form of a driving, relentless beat, one which reveals an influence from deep within krautrock and the avant garde, especially in moments free of any melodic and vocal contributions. When reintroduced to the cozy chords and empathetic vocals, we find ourselves in these compositions on the two separate levels of stated intention and implicit understanding. Where our words and actions may at times suggest an unmoving resolve and a reluctant heart, our internal essence always radiates a longing intensity, an eternal desperation to know and be known.