John Myrtle evokes a dreamy nostalgia with new single ‘How Do You Break a Heart?’
The soothing singer-songwriter is back with his first new music since 2021.
Photo: Larissa Blintz
How Do You Break a Heart? is the charming new single from Birmingham-born, London-based singer-songwriter John Myrtle. As the first new material since the release of his 2021 debut album Myrtle Soup, which was entirely self-recorded in his bedroom, the single has been given the studio makeover. Produced by Jonathan Rado (Weyes Blood, The Lemon Twigs) and buttressed with a mix from Balász Altsach (Ugly, Legss), Myrtle reflects on the spontaneous nature of the recording process: “After we got all the instrumentation down, I remember ad-libbing the words on the spot, which I’d never done before, and tried to treat the performance of the vocal like I was an actor on stage – someone crying out for help.”
With a duration just shy of two and a half minutes, it’s pocket-sized gold that’ll leave you dazed and dreamy. Waltzing through velvety and tender harmonies, it’s a vision of 60s folk-pop magnetism. Like The Kinks at a Summer Solstice celebration, the single is radiantly satisfying, tinged with the perfect levels of self-possessed sensitivity and halcyon tranquillity. Enveloped with glimmering acoustics and a buoyant rhythm section, it’s a first-class comeback and I’ve got my fingers crossed for further releases in 2024.
John Myrtle will be joining Cut Worms on selected UK tour dates this month – certainly not one to missed!
How Do You Break a Heart? is out now via Soup Sounds.