His genius is not just in his voice but in how he can render heartache so cinematically. From the beginning chords, this song sets a thoughtful but firm tone. It remains in the discomfort of a broken bond and asks the sorts of tricky questions so seldom articulated aloud. There's something beautifully raw in the way he walks a tightrope of aching honesty, sound occasionally catching in his throat like a hiccup while dancing a melody on your eardrum that becomes a soundtrack to your own unspoken goodbyes.
The production opts for a pristine yet emotionally resonant soundscape. Decadent guitars heave with emotion, steady percussion maintains the pulse, while Campbell's vocals waver between slick and ragged, grounding the song in a timelessly spirited place. It's a pop rock in the shape of things, but indie pop at heart is restrained, manicured, and wholly earnest.
The song captures the internal push and pull of breakups, the urge to move on against the wistfulness, the clarity of what's broken on one shoulder, and the fog of other feelings on the other. Jack Campbell doesn't see himself as the hero or the victim. Instead, he catches the emotional gray in between, where so many of us are mired.
"Meet Me in the Middle" is a breakup song, but it's more than that too. It's an emotional checkpoint, a musical reminder that while everything can fall apart, there can be as much beauty in the honesty that follows it. For all of you who have ever stood at the fork of hold and release, her recent release will be a much-welcome confidant and lovely luminary. He is turning heartbreak into art.