Electro-folk artist Hayden Calnin‘s stunning new single, ‘What It Means to Be Human’, which we’re premiering here at Music Feeds, is one of those rare songs that feels at once deeply intimate and soaringly grand. That juxtaposition of scale is reflected in the lyrics too.
Above light, airy synths and delicately-strummed acoustic guitar, Calnin grapples with his place in the world. After a very intense couple of years for pretty much everyone, it’s a deeply relatable theme: how do you acknowledge the importance of your choices and their impact on a personal level, while contrasting them with the scope of the universe around you?
“Between two very long lockdowns in the state of Victoria in 2020, some friends and I went hiking and camping in the Victorian Alpine region, to regather, to reflect, to move our legs and to breathe new air,” the singer-songwriter explains.
“I spent a lot of time there reflecting on what was happening in the world, and the things I wanted to focus on from that point forward. It was a very important time for me to digest the global climate and what was going on inside my brain.”
‘What It Means to Be Human’, is taken from Calnin’s forthcoming new album of the same name, which is set to arrive Friday, 10th September. The record follows on from a string of EPs in recent years along with his 2016 debut double-album, Cut Love.
