Nick Costa is a Minneapolis musician and songwriter, and he's back with a soft punch to the gut on "Cherry Blossom." The track is the second single off his forthcoming album, 'When the Lights Go Out.' On this track, Costa isn't so much writing a song as he is carving open a wound to let it sing. "Cherry Blossom" unfolds gradually, with a melancholy warmth; its title summons the idea of ephemeral beauty and the ache of impermanence. But it's not only poetic imagery. This song sinks far down into the haunted space where love used to be found but still hovers like a ghost, where someone who used to say he cares forgets to look you in the eye.
It is a feeling too many people know but few describe more astutely. There is an atmosphere of gentle devastation. Costa's voice is heavy with a thousand unsent messages, tender but strong, bruised yet composed. His storytelling isn't loud and dramatic, but rather understated and painfully human. You can sense the loneliness seep in between the lines, as the silence after a door shuts one last time. "Cherry Blossom" channels a meditative, practically cinematic vibe. There's an easy softness to the arrangement that supports the emotional vulnerability of the lyrics, a slow-burning mix of indie-folk and soul, cloaked in moody textures and a hint of vintage warmth.
The instrumentation is a way of cradling Costa's voice, allowing listeners to hone in on every sigh or lyrical ache. What makes "Cherry Blossom" truly special is how intricately Costa deals with it. If 'When the Lights Go Out' proceeds in this emotionally fertile vein, then you can only expect it to be one of the quietest yet powerful musical moments of the year. On "Cherry Blossom," Nick Costa shows that the quietest songs can be the most powerful, and we'll be feeling this one long after it fades.