There’s a high level of angst throughout our Eurovision entries this year, perhaps understandably given the two years we’ve all lived through. But few come close to this, in which our artist sings of lying down in the river and letting his body be carried away, citing “Oh Lord, I’m done”. It’s a bleak moment in which we meet him, near the end of his capacity to carry on with life, but as songs about suicide go it’s really not bad.
There’s a build here in the music that lifts this from the despair of the opening bars into something rather stirring in the chorus, undercut with a light drum-and bass-y feel. Over it all the standout is Ochman’s vocal performance, which is stunning. I’m glad it is just a work of fiction as the world deserves to hear a voice this good.
If I’ve one reservation, it’s that the crescendo as he comes out of the middle eight and back into the chorus needs to be a little more emphasised: this could be the moment on stage that seals his score, and he needs to make a feature of it. Otherwise, this is terrific.
If you want a dark horse, this one is about as dark as you can get.
My marks: DOUZE POINTS!