Last week, my mate Imogen, who happens to be our researcher, introduced me to Arthur Hill, a content creator turned singer. I am always a bit sceptical when creators turn to music, but I actually enjoyed this EP, and it’s made me re-evaluate my bias against content creators.
Here is our track-by-track rundown of Arthur Hill’s latest EP, In The Middle Of Somewhere.
Hey Arthur! is a really cute song, it has a jovial and summery vibe. Perfect to stream at the park on a pleasant but not too hot British summer day. About one minute and 45 seconds into the song, there were some really groovy spacey sounds that tickled something in my brain that made me really love the song – I already liked it, they just elevated it for me.
Lyric-wise, I was talking to our researcher Imogen (she introduced me and secured us tickets for Arthur’s show), and I won’t lie, I was telling her about how I totally related to the song. As I, too, take people back when I shouldn’t.
This song reminded me of Laufey’s jazzy vibe, but if she put really anxious-sounding drums over the top, this was most present during the opening.
The chorus is really fun and made me want to get up and have a little boogie, unfortunately, I stayed sat down as I was listening to this album during a train journey. It reminded me of those rom-com montage scenes of the goofy but lovable main character going around and doing their very mundane routine but with a little hop in their step because their love interest just told them “I love you.”
At this point in my listening experience, I was reminded of my GOAT – Miss Taylor Allison Swift. In the sense that Arthur utilises down lyrics with an upbeat instrumental. Safe to say, if he keeps this up, I’ll be a stan in no time.
The bass in the opening of Lily caught my attention immediately. I felt it reminded me of boy band music of the early to mid 2010’s, think 5SOS, One Direction and The Vamps.
Imogen and I went back and forth on how the lyrics made us feel. I had gotten to the point in the song where Arthur says “Using fake names in my lyrics, Still hope that you’ll hear this, Do you know that I’m talking about you” and I immediately thought about Thank You Aimee by Taylor Swift and Imogen informed me that it was more like Olivia by 1D, because of how lovey it is vs the venom that is present in Taylor’s song. Imogen won that debate.
But overall, Lily is a lovely song and one thing we did agree on is the storytelling present throughout the EP.
Immediately, I loved the vibes of Too Much Ain’t Enough. The guitar to open the track reminded me of going on holiday, and the feeling of anticipation you get whilst heading to the airport, knowing you have an amazing time awaiting on the other side of the boarding gate. The drums kicking in and a groovy bass playing really made the song for me. Lyric-wise it felt like the boy version of Gimme More by Britney Spears.
Late For The Reservation is simple, one-word, fun. I enjoyed the very funky-sounding guitar throughout the song, and near the end of the song, the instrumental almost fully drops out, allowing space for you to hear Arthur clearly as he closes out the song. I think this moment will be really fun to sing along to during a live show.
This song reminded me of Harry Styles; the vibes were just immaculate.
When I pressed play on this song, again, I thought of Taylor Swift – big shocker. I thought of her in the sense that she has a few songs where she also talks about how she used to be the life of the party. But, as the song progressed, I got more of a sense of yearning and heartbreak, which is what we need more of from men.
I really liked the wordplay in the bridge, “You were the party part of me”. Hopefully, Arthur can find the party part of him again.
Overall, it was a good listen, and I am looking forward to seeing how Arthur progresses sonically. I am also looking forward to seeing him in November in Birmingham for his STELLA ARTOUR show.
Tickets are still available on Ticketmaster.
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