"It's All Burning," the latest single from Piano Pulse, comes as a quiet but piercing reminder of the strength of simplicity. A singer-songwriter's song of loss and extreme loneliness in adult contemporary disguise, the essential elements have been laid bare, leaving only the piano, the voice, and raw emotion to simmer long. Opening with piano, the chords swell in and out with understated elegance, each note bending under the weight of unsaid pain, their disruption discreet yet profound. However, the song actually blossoms with the addition of vocals.
Leda, a friend of Piano Pulse, was the first to feel the emotional depth hidden in the piano piece, and she had to sing it. It's that decision that made the instrumental something shardingly human, a meditation on the abrupt loss of someone deeply loved. For "It's All Burning," its magic is all in the restraint. The piano's somberness serves as a minimal foundation, and it doesn't overpower, but instead carries along the singing, which therefore breathes and resonates.
Every lyric is sung with tenderness, a lovely tug at your empathy. This isn't drama, not looking for grand gestures. Instead, the song achieves its poignancy through intimacy. It's the work that could easily find a place accompanying a moment of personal reflection, late-night contemplation, or quiet remembering. Born from an experience of personal grief, the song is universal to anyone who has confronted sudden loss, turning private pain into a shared experience that is almost sacred. You are likely to return to it, not necessarily as something to listen to just once, but as something to keep company with in reflective moments.
At a time when music can seem more ephemeral than ever, Piano Pulse's new track serves as a reminder of why the singer-songwriter format persists: when done right, it holds the ability to capture emotion at its rawest, most impactful level. "It's All Burning" sticks with you, not just in the playing, but in the lingering, resonating, and staying awhile in ways that only music genuinely made with the heart can do. For those who are willing to risk the openness of its purest essence, Piano Pulse offers a song that smoulders, threatening to ignite but refusing to be extinguished.