Introducing the London-via-Leicester songwriter Joe Connor Little through the tender and bittersweet single ‘Always’ (rel 27.11.19). With riding acoustic strings and harmoniously layered vocals, Little encompasses the rush of complex emotion of newly-found love and how that changes your perspective of the world, even if only for a short time.

There’s an underlying sadness that everybody experiences at some point during the dizzying beginnings of a relationship – a sadness in the knowledge that it’s unlikely to last. As Little puts it: “I guess what I’m picking at is the wide-eyed rejection of this feeling, in the incorruptible belief that everything will work out as it should.”

Further explaining the personal context behind ‘Always’, Joe Connor Little shares: “Early Summer 2019 saw the beginnings of one of my life’s more significant relationships. Encumbered by poor timing and unfortunate circumstances, the following months proved to be disorientating and emotional. ‘Always’ was written at the start, and is I think a candid and honest depiction of how I felt at the time; tender, warm and starry-eyed.”

As we hear through the steady progression of chords and floating production, it is not a thunderbolt moment that brings love to the fore, but a gentle transformation over time. This sound was very much purposefully chosen by the songwriter to capture this essence.

“I wanted to create a sound that echoed that tenderness with an intimacy that put as little space as possible between the listener and myself. For that reason, I limited the use of instruments, effects or harmonies, and dispelled percussion entirely – bar the shaker in the choruses.”

‘Always’ is accompanied by two b-sides, the dreamy ‘Moving Away’ and slightly grittier ‘Closing Time’, which further expands the songwriter’s real-to-life romantic narrative.

Look out for more new music by Joe Connor Little next year.