We had a chat with Nathaniel Earl about his powerful and ambitious new single ‘happy’
Recently here at CLOUT, we heaped praise on Nathaniel Earl‘s recent single ‘happy’, enchanted by the honest and powerful way that it explored the feelings and reckoning that you have when you find out that your ex is getting married, and the rollercoaster of thoughts that go through your head.
The emotions that you have to process are mirrored through a captivating sound that begins intimate and soft and eventually kicks into a more intense, atmospheric gear, continuing to highlight the cinematic and moving nature of Nathaniel’s appeal and the resonating way that it sweeps you up as a listener. We love the track and the powerful way that it all comes together, and had a chat with Nathaniel Earl to find out a bit more about the story behind it and how it came together.
Hey! We love your new single ‘happy’, what more can you tell us about it?
‘happy’ is a rainy-night reckoning about learning an ex has gotten married. It opens in stillness with piano and a gentle vocal, then slowly swells into something explosive and full. The song sits in that space between heartbreak and acceptance, trying to wish happiness forward without pretending it doesn’t hurt. It’s built on piano, 808s, synth arpeggios, falsetto vocals, and baritone guitar. It lives somewhere between Jame Blake’s “Don’t Miss It”, Radiohead’s “Daydreaming”, and Sting’s “It’s Probably Me”.
What was the process like putting it together?
This song is very much a collage of emotions and experiments from 2018-2024. Back in 2018, I recorded on old Steinway grand piano for a few days, the piano on “happy” came out of those sessions. The arpeggio I’m playing is a 5 note pattern that, over two of the piano phrases, becomes a subtle, swinging 5/4. It started out as a mathy little piece.
Over the next few years, I revised and redid the song quite a few times, trying to search for the essence within it. The 808/indie hip-hop beat didn’t manifest until probably 2022. I had my good friend Sam Witt over late one night in 2023, and we pulled my Dad’s old trumpet from the closet (barely operational, broken valves and all that), and he explored with some really interesting, very raw trumpet ideas that ended up becoming the big brass swells that happen sporadically through the song. Another friend, Jeremy Roye helped me refine and trim the song from its original length which included 4 cycles through the 5/4 loop, down to 3, with some nice dynamic breaks. The original intention of the song was to be a meditative, almost ambient song to sit in, but as lyrics were added it became clear that it needed to be a more accessible, dynamic pop-adjacent piece. Grateful for the help of my friends and my fantastic mix engineer, Con Davison, for helping me reign this one in and find direction within it.
What were your biggest influences when creating it?
At the time I was listening to a lot of dark ambient electronic music (Clark, Floating Points, some James Blake and Thom Yorke). I’d also been obsessed with this song call “The Garden” by Brad Mehldau, I think you can hear some of that influence in there. Also a lot of Debussy and Satie.
What should we expect from your upcoming new album What Follows What Remains?
It’s a journey album, kind of a symbolic journey through my own personal ego-death and the beginning of my connection to the greater world and universe. I’d spent most of my life under the belief that I was safer, better, happier alone, cut off from responsibilities and commitments to others and my community at large. But that space was crushing, like being sent off into space with no suit. The process of making this album was a cathartic journey from that crushing, isolated place, to one of communion with the world and the cosmos through emotional, often painful experiences of growth. It’s an emotional ride, but that’s the point. There are lot of different styles and approaches on the record. Half of the songs have vocals, the other half act as transitory experiences from one state to another. In so many words, the album is meant to be a spiritual experience for the listener.
What else do you have planned for the near future?
I’m really excited about this year. I’ve got this album, What Follows What Remains coming out in May, and I have some really special live performances planned for that release, something with a chamber orchestra in an old church here in Austin, TX. I’m beginning work on the next record too, which will lean more organic and live – think choir, orchestra, live band, something very raw and human. Excited by that challenge ahead.
