By Megan Hughes
Scottish duo Cal and Ally have a new release out now, Hope That I am Right. It is the brothers first single together as they both performed as solo musicians previously, which means we have busking sessions in Dundee and Glasgow to thank for their union – as if they hadn’t experimented as a duo during these busking sessions your ears would not be getting blessed with their new release.
Hope that I am Right is a soft, mellow pop ballad. Pop, to me, is too often treated as a dirty word amongst those who are ‘into’ music. Yet pop is the only genre which will constantly change and yet be renamed later. Pop is what is popular at the time and once the masses here this song it will most definitely be pop. If anything maintaining yourself as a pop artist requires more methodical planning – you’ve got to premeditate what fans and listeners want before they even know. Hope That I am Right is something that you want.
The song opens with soft and short strings, quickly followed with vocals. The brothers voice dance around one and other stressing and blending just at the right times. Listen carefully as a violin slur comes in at about thirty five seconds in which is breathtaking – this little gem will be heard again and it’s possibly my favourite part of the song. Such a tiny detail but it shows the attention to detail that the brothers exhibit. The key in which the violin is played in adds a little depth which helps move the song on and softly fill the sound without requiring hard hitting drums or massive crescendos.
Lyrically the song deals with self reflection on you relationship with someone you feel for deeply and rely upon; another theme being missing someone. The song as a whole shows a response to how tough life has been this year for everyone. With lyrics such as ‘make do with what we’ve got left of our lives’; ‘thought about the wasted time’ – with so much time on our hands it is hard not to drown in amongst our thoughts and think about how we could have and should have dealt with certain things in time gone by. In a pre pandemic life many things were taken for granted, some of those things being time and life. In the last year some people have made massive changes in their lives; some have stayed the exact same – Cal and Ally have recorded and released a single, everyone has handled things differently.
Some people release hard hitting singles and the only reason listeners connect is because they have a joint experience. However, that’s not the case with this sibling duo. You don’t need to have felt the heartbreak or the regret before you listen because something about the way they deliver this song makes you feel what they feel. The song is full of feelings, it isn’t a rollercoaster; it doesn’t take you down to lift you back up. It’s an experience of going through self growth and realisation. And it is still pop.
The guys are hopeful of releasing more music to their listeners this coming summer so keep your eyes peeled and your ears ready – you won’t be disappointed, I promise.
To keep up with Cal and Ally you can follow them at the below:
Instagram: @cal.and.ally
The Music Files 