John Arter's new single, "That Other Time," is the first taste of his first solo LP, "SMALL WONDER." It comes like a whisper down a winter street. The song is simple but full of feeling. It has acoustic guitar, drifting French horns, and a violin that comes and goes like headlights in a fog.
"That Other Time" feels like a memory that has been broken up into pieces from the very first moment. It's vivid, sad, and uncomfortably exact. The closeness here makes the listener lean in, as if Arter is telling not just a story but also the act of remembering. It is a mix of a lullaby and a call to arms. It is the kind of song that stays with you after the last note, leaving you feeling warm and sad.
The song's lyrics and music deal with the passage of time without any illusions. Arter talks about the stress of looking back, like roads that don't lead to familiar places, pictures of yourself that feel almost foreign, and the quiet panic of realizing how much has changed. But it does so without being overly dramatic. The song is thoughtful, patient, and honestly tender, and it's the kind of work that gets better with each listen.
"That Other Time" firmly establishes John Arter as a storyteller attuned to the small, often overlooked moments of life, translating fleeting emotion into a musical landscape that feels both personal and universal. The beginning of "SMALL WONDER" is thoughtful and well-planned, suggesting that the album will be as much about sound as about thought, and that it will stay with you long after the first listen.
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