Suited for a funeral or even a birth, Luke Sital-Singh's moving parabolic story "Til the Day I Die" is about death, life but mostly about the kind of love that few of us experience, a perfect love built out of acceptance, not petty but pretty in romance and even in the way two people handle the brutality of life together. I have experienced Luke's songs enough to know that he never makes a false step, that his vocal countenance held up with his acoustic guitar shapes will likely never fail to make you feel something, deeply. "Til the Day I Die" is no exception. The song moves through it's paces and you will likely see a movie in your head. You will also undoubtedly think about people in your life that you no longer can hold and tell them how much you love and miss them.
The older we become the road ahead shortens, we have less time to make an impression on others so please don't wait too long to say what you need to, hopefully face to face or voice to voice.
"Now I can't be late 'cause I'm here all the time
Smiling through the morphine that drips down the line
And if heaven denies me, I don't think I'll mind
Cause I loved her til the day I died
I loved her til the day I died...."
"Now I can't be late 'cause I'm here all the time
Smiling through the morphine that drips down the line
And if heaven denies me, I don't think I'll mind
Cause I loved her til the day I died
I loved her til the day I died...."
"Til the Day I Die" is track 3 from Luke's EP "Strange Weather" (via Nettwerk).
-Robb Donker Curtius
THE FACTS AS WE KNOW THEM
https://open.spotify.com/artist/3Lw97gGh8bp1MftsYmwJHG
https://www.instagram.com/lukesitalsingh/
Restlessness and creativity often go hand-in-hand. Luke Sital-Singh never quite stops. Instead, he absorbs the momentum of an ever-changing and fast-paced world within his prolific output as a singer, songwriter, and producer. At this point, catching inspiration might be nearly as perfunctory, yet essential as breathing for him. All of this energy courses through his 2023 Strange Weather EP [Nettwerk], and he continues to progress once again in real-time now.
“In my art, I’m quite happy with how quickly everything moves,” he states. “Doing this job, I struggle with the downtime. I’m a musician, and it always felt silly not to put out a lot of music. I enjoy releasing songs, because it helps me stay more creative and connected to the fans. I’ve got all of these tracks, and it felt like the perfect time to share more of them on Strange Weather. It’s just this loose little amalgamation of songs that keep my story going. ”
The story only gets richer with each successive release.
With a growing catalog, he has continued to captivate listeners. Among many highlights, “Call Me When You Land” with Old Sea Brigade gathered 26.9 million Spotify streams, while “Nothing Stays The Same” surpassed 11.7 million Spotify streams. He reached another creative and critical benchmark on his fourth full-length album, Dressing Like A Stranger. Highlighted by fan favorites such as “Me & God,” “Blind Missiles,” and “Rather Be” [with Christina Perri], it amassed 10 million-plus streams. Meanwhile, NPR hailed it as “interesting and cathartic,” and Forbes noted, “Luke writes in an instinctual fashion, where the song all comes out at one sitting.” Melodic Mag went as far as to christen the album as “superb.” Thus far, he has also performed alongside everyone from Angus and Julia Stone and Martha Wainwright to Passenger and Gregory Alan Isakov, in addition to leading a TED Talk at the official TED Conference.
He introduces this chapter with the opener and title track “Strange Weather.” His vocals weave through bright pluck-y guitar as he laments, “All my favorite spots are closed down, nowhere to go now.”
“Weather is a big metaphor,” he observes. “It affects your mood and how you look at life. Rain makes everything worse. If it’s sunny again, the problems are there, but they seem easier to deal with. I’ve never made note of the atmosphere before. The metaphor carried on for me, because everything was strange after the Pandemic. ‘Strange Weather’ was a summary of the EP and how I felt in general.”
Acoustic guitar and a steady beat underline “My Mind” where he urges, “Show me all the exit signs, ‘cause I may need a quick escape."
“I’ve struggled with anxiety and depression, but I’ve gotten into meditation in order to still my mind,” he admits. “The imagery is about living in L.A. where you have beautiful weather, but you still see dark and cloudy skies in your head.”
Then, there’s “Hallelujah Anyway.” The track initially earned a placement on the ABC drama Station 19, inciting fan anticipation for its arrival. Finally released on the EP, it channels the intimacy of Luke’s approach—as if he’s letting you eavesdrop on an internal conversation late at night. Driven by chords played on “an old electric piano from the sixties,” the stark instrumentation draws a spotlight to his verses and the refrain’s uplifting affirmation, “Can I sing ‘Hallelujah Anyway’ when the days are long and the night won’t fade?”
“I’m trying to push myself to be happier,” he admits. “I’m a pessimistic person. I’m always worried. To me, it’s a universal message—we all go through tough times, and we can’t really get away from it. It’s just about how you deal with it. It’s also a “We” song for my wife and me. We go through everything together, and it feels like we’re a unit in terms of how we look at the world.”
“Till the Day I Die” unspools a fascinating narrative propelled by his delicate instrumentation and tender intonation. “It’s a storytelling song like a mini-novel,” he adds. The EP closes with a cover of the Radiohead classic “Fake Plastic Trees.” His high register recalls the dynamics of the original, yet he also infuses his own nuances of uneasy emotion caught in the wake of distant piano and guitar.
“My oldest brother was super into Radiohead,” he remembers. “The first time I heard them, I was like, ‘You only listen to depressing music!’ With what I do now, the irony of that is not lost on me,” Luke laughs. “So, my earliest memory of Radiohead was trying to get my brother to turn it the fuck off! I obviously came around. I’m super proud of the cover. You can’t beat this kind of songwriting, and the song has always spoken to me. When my brother liked my cover, that was good enough for me.”
In the end, Luke anchors the constant rush of creativity with a message.
“We’re all going through shit, and it’s normal,” he leaves off. “We can lean on each other. Hopefully, the songs help like a friend telling you, ‘You’re not alone’. It’s such a liberating and encouraging thing to hear. I don’t have the answers. All of my songs end with a question mark. We have to deal with those questions together, but maybe my music can help you deal with those questions.”
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