As I get older, I find myself worrying about the future of music and how much it has all changed, and nearly always for the worse. And then I see something like Hi Ren (by Welsh singer-songwriter Ren Gill) and I realise that I’m just getting older and ‘the kids’ will figure it out, and make something amazing from the new and exciting tools that are available to them these days.
Let me start by encouraging you to go find the Hi Ren video on YouTube and then sit down and give it some serious attention. I’ll warn you in advance that it is NOT for kids, or suitable for listening to on speakers at work. There is a lot of swearing and the subject matter is dark and powerful. It’s filmed in one take and it’s just Ren and his nylon-string guitar and a bucket of talent (and some beautifully crafted videography). The kid is a genius and it’s one of the most powerful performances I have ever seen. He’s not playing anything especially complicated, but what he plays is just perfect for the song, which is full of contradictory emotions and ragged around the edges.
It was a very welcome reminder of how powerful music can be, when so much of today's charting popular music is, frankly, bland drivel. But Ren is not making pop music and I don’t think it’ll make it onto BBC Radio 1 or 2 any time soon. And it shouldn’t be - that is not who it’s for. And he knows it. The kids will figure it out.
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