The sprawling seven-minute genius of Baggio’s new single ‘Dull Ache’
The seven-strong band share first single in over two years.
Photo: Jake Ollett
“I wrote this song on a walk in the pissing rain, from Catford to Lewisham, in between a break-up and a reconciliation. It’s about finding the midpoint between heartbreak, to which you’ve become accustomed to the point of numbness, and clinging on to that last tiny bit of hope you have.”
This is how Ben Wyborn, singer and songwriter, describes Dull Ache, the first release from alt-country group Baggio in two and a half years. What began as a solo project spiralled further and further into beautiful chaos with a rotating group of band members, playing on cramped stages to South London fans, and culminating in full-length studio releases in 2017 and 2020.
Now, Baggio are back on the scene. And Wyborn’s ‘reintroduction’ for their band is a sprawling, seven-minute production, creeping up on you slowly and building with the foreseen-if-jolting force of a hurricane. The track has a heartland twang to it, echoing the old greats like Springsteen, and fitting in among modern masters like Sam Fender or The Killers.
Wyborn’s lyrics are nothing short of beautiful, too, putting to harrowing verse the power of a foregone relationship, where familiarity is more the glue than love. These words are set to moments of sublime guitar, brass and choral repetition; some of the most poetic and painfully real lyrics I’ve encountered since discovering the Magnetic Fields’ 69 Love Songs some years back.
For a reintroduction, Baggio have smashed it out the park, returning to the scene with an ambitious masterpiece. It’s on the right side of country, but somehow the genres don’t matter with a song like this. It’s simply what it is and, what it is, is brilliant. If it takes two and a half years to create something this raw and ruthlessly captivating, I dare say it’s worth the wait.