There are songs that touch one’s soul from the first note, and this is exactly what Arliston’s new single ‘I Have No Honour’ does.
With a mesmerising, echoed guitar, the song starts off with heavily autotuned vocals – reminiscent of Bon Iver and Francis & the Lights – and, throughout the entire duration of the song, the listener gets lost in a loop of synths and a hypnotic 10 chord sequence, alongside ethereal and light harmonies.
It is almost impressing how aesthetically pleasing ‘I Have No Honour’ is, it has everything that an ambient/alternative track should have but, most importantly, it carries a meaning: it wants to represent the syncopation, almost a synesthetic one, that one’s heart has when it feels worthless and empty. Everyone makes the mistake – at least once in their life – to compare themselves to others, but everyone needs to reflect on their own identity, because if we exist, as humanity, there has to be a reason. People just tend to forget that sometimes.
“Staring at your pixels, you’re better than me…”
The production is quite sophisticated, following the footsteps of artists like Jack Garratt, Ben Khan, Vancouver Sleep Clinic and The National. The guitar riffs that surface very delicately from the background add a certain intensity that this song indeed needed. ‘I Have No Honour’ certainly is a very interesting track and a nice discovery for the music industry.
With a subtle beat that is vaguely reminiscent of a heartbeat, Jack, George, and Jordi from Arliston have created a whole other dimension where the listener can get lost whenever they feel insecure or doubtful about their worth. And this is what music should do: they restore one’s soul when nothing else is there to do it.