Melanie MacLaren - “Heaven Is”
Photo by Blaire Beamer
Nashville-based Melanie MacLaren has returned to the blog with “Heaven Is,” a deep, folksy dive into existentialism with a nostalgic, summery vibe.
This vintage-tinged number gets started with a full-band arrangement, including the thick, analog warmth of a rhythm section that instills a slow-swaying heartbeat. Above this dreamy pulse, the soft strums of an acoustic guitar lend to the stripped-back nature of the song, reeling us in before the lyrics have even arrived.
MacLaren’s vocal performance seals the deal. The universe has gifted her with the kind of voice that nestles perfectly into the folk genre, delivering lines that the listener has no choice but to receive as the truth. And the truth here is that all living things must eventually come to an end, as so eloquently described in the lyrical content.
The elevation of the song’s hook is reinforced by a divine vocal harmony and will very likely result in your return to “Heaven Is” for many listens, as all good hooks will do. But, for us, the subject matter is what will keep bringing us back to this one, as it resonates very deeply within our souls, searching for some evidence of what awaits us in the next world.
MacLaren adds: “‘Heaven Is’” is about a lot of the myths and imagery we’re fed about the afterlife, and the experience of how deconstructing those myths leads to reality check that we really have no idea what happens, besides that we leave, and everyone else does too.”