Though the release date is still unknown, Canadian songwriter Jon Lawless — better known as swim good now, and formerly known as swim good — has already begun promoting his debut full-length record Daylight on Ryan Hemsworth‘s Secret Songs label. The first taste of Daylight is “It Was The Longest Day Ever,” which sees Lawless moving in a new direction sonically, with sparse vocals sitting atop a light, finger-picked guitar.
For the track, Lawless teamed up with fellow Canadian duo Georgian Bay, as well as Half Waif‘s Nandi Rose Plunkett, whose vocal and instrumental contributions add to the ethereal beauty and somber mood of “It Was The Longest Day Ever.” Over a mellow guitar and light piano flares, Lawless is able to capture the conflicting feelings of loss and anger while maneuvering the new realities of single life in a single line, saying, “I miss you so much, it’s maddening.” The track is very quiet, with the entrance of more electric instruments in the last few seconds that help to bring the song to a new height, and will it to a natural close.
“It’s about a friend of mine who was going through a breakup. I had no clue how to console them–I felt really helpless. Nandi and my friends Joelle and Kelly aka Georgian Bay helped me shape it into something much more beautiful than I could have made on my own,” Lawless says of the track. Check it out below.
Daylight is coming soon on Secret Songs.
