“UW4GM”

A faint piano enters early on “UW4GM,” the latest song from London artist Joviale. The melodic line evokes Grouper’s aching, solitary music, drawing on a deep sense of isolation within just a few spare notes. The one-off single “UW4GM” steps away from the guitar-based folk of last year’s Hurricane Belle EP, embracing a softer palette of quiet percussion and radiant, humming synths. “This song came to me like a spell,” Joviale said about the songwriting process, describing it as a “little light during last year’s lonely and everlasting winter lockdown.” They slowly build that incantatory atmosphere with delicate, multi-tracked vocals. “What you say could kill you in an instant,” they sing over the tinkling piano and drums, slipping into a mantra-like melody to offer words of encouragement: “Open your heart/Let your guard down.” Joviale knows being vulnerable can come with a cost, but that doesn’t mean intimacy has to be intimidating. It’s a message that becomes gently reassuring in Joviale’s peaceful voice.