“There’s a blessing in the river that you’re only going to find
when you’ve been to the bottom, you can talk about the climb.”– Nuela Charles, “Long Way Down”
“This song came out of a session with production duo Towers,” says Canadian, Swiss, and Kenyan songstress Nuela Charles of her latest single, “As we were writing it, the production began to feel inspired by old chain-gang songs. The fierce stomps and claps in the beat were being looped around, and I kept hearing the words long way down accompanied by the image of a river in my head. Thematically, I wanted “Long Way Down” to feel hopeful and soulful. It’s a reflection on today’s world – the glorification of status and money, the fear of losing it. Society loves to watch people fail (Britney much?!) Despite this, there is a blessing to stripping it all away and starting anew. A fresh slate may be one of the hardest things you’ll ever go through, but it can truly be a blessing.”
Is there a “Goldfinger” or “Diamonds are Forever” cover in Nuela’s future? When a wag of a reporter suggested he’d heard some Shirley Bassie in her voice and asked if she’d covered any of the late singer’s songs, Charles responded, “I haven’t but I love the James Bond vibes!!”
We’ll take that as a “maybe.”
