Stream: Cool For You - Julia Knight

Following up on her recently release Like I Used To, Julia Knight is back with another track dealing in the disappointment that can come from relationships.

Describing the track, Knight says:

“Cool For You is about a super brief relationship that looking back on, I had no business being in really. I met someone in the summer and thought everything was working out, only for it to end abruptly a short couple months later. It’s about trying to be so cool and casual as a way to protect yourself. I hated that.”

There can be a hard tug-of-war in the early stages of a relationship, trying to figure out how much to open yourself up... Ultimately things can’t advance and grow without vulnerability, but sometimes that vulnerability can be abused.

Here Julia’s smooth vocal and woozy electronic synths tell a tale of dejection in a restrained way, mirroring her attempt not to make a big deal of things... Playing it cool as a sample of a phone call from a potential partner drifts by in the background.

Maybe real love doesn’t require you to hide what you actually feel, and playing it cool? Maybe it's just a bit, well, cold.

Stream: Like I Used To - Julia Knight

Like I Used To is the second single from musician Julia Knight, who first appeared on the scene with her debut single Ghost Of You back in September 2016. Two years is a long time, but Knight chose to use that time to perfect her follow-up, focusing on every element of this new song.

The lead single to be lifted from her forthcoming EP Love Is A Hoax, Like I Used To is about being able to step back and view a relationship with perspective some time after it ended. It is about being able to miss certain elements of a relationship without actually wanting to be back in it.

The melody, percussion and soft keyboards here create an intoxicating atmosphere that blends with Knight’s vocal performance beautifully. Those vocals feel a little lost in sad introspection, and you can really hear the loss in the way she sings. The chorus manages to create the sense of moving on out of necessity - the little “Oh na na na na” vocal hook sounds almost sounds like a deliberate form of distraction from what Knight must be feeling.