He wowed us on several Bongo Boy Records collections, and solidified his authentic contemporary output with the Peter Gabriel-esque “Pieces That Lay Broken.” Now, American singer and songwriter E.G. Holmes – a time-hewn diamond glittering fiercely among Bongo Boy Records’ illuminant independent artists — returns with his latest, and Reggae-infused track, “Hearts in a Prison.” Ready for the latest E.G. Holmes release implying the tenacious pain of a love that chains, commands, and never defers judgment? Let’s listen, and talk about it.
Wait. What’s the song about?
Per E.G.’s impassioned press, “The original idea for “Hearts in a Prison” came to E.G. Holmes in 1989 when he was dating the woman who would become his wife. She lived in the suburbs of Chicago, while he was residing in Center Island, NY. Their meeting during a business trip to the Midwest sparked a creative flame in Holmes. The song reflected the frustrations of a long-distance relationship and the yearning for resolution. Holmes aimed to keep the sound authentic to the classic reggae of the time.”
Listening, and talking about it.
‘Hearts in a Prison” rests on pointed bass, a deliberate, patient drum beat, percussive guitar strums, and sun-skimming organ. E.G.’s rough, rock-sheltered voice testifies to his longing, to the tenacious encumbering of what should be a weightless affair – the maintenance of love through close and consistent expression. E.G. voices this erosion of formerly inspiring feelings with the succinct and clever lyric, “Long distance love affair, there’s nothing fair about.”
E.G. can’t be free of this – of the trap baited with love and affection now rearing an ensnaring, unromantic truth: his love, and the ability to express it, is constantly withheld and walled in by boundaries made thick, thorny, and impassible with distance. There is no kissing at a whim when the closest cheek is miles away.
The song breaks for a watery organ aside, and E.G. Holmes’ voice continues its gloriously worn lamenting about something perhaps irreconcilable – something that, surprisingly, retains its worth through a slowly eroding tolerance.
And when the song ends, the instrumentation ceases, granting E.G.’s final, frustrating proclamation an emphatically heart-felt punctuation.
But is it good?
E.G. Holmes delivers from the grinding plates of his earthy voice a testament to a tenuous love incrementally challenged by distance. And he does this so effectively, so honestly, you feel the frustration, the palm-on-forehead as he dreads another ridiculously long journey for what seems a brief respite. Is “Hearts in a Prison” good? It’s the swaying anthem for a longing heart that debates the necessary pain for continuation. It’s the equally long distance between the discovery of love and a final resolution that either tethers it, or relinquishes it. Good stuff, and highly recommended.
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