We can all relate to that feeling after long night out filled with excess when you wish you could just press a button and be magically transported to the comfort and safety of your own home. New Zealand pop chanteuse Isla Noon makes a triumphant return with a follow up to her single ‘Talk About Us’ (reviewed by us here), ‘I Need To Go Home’, and captures that moment perfectly. This is another pop masterclass from Noon: stirring choruses and a fine golden thread of yearning throughout.
Noon says of the track:
The song tells the story of a night out where the illusion of a grand ideal is shattered; that moment you sober up to see a girl crying into her drink, the spilled wine all over the floor drying to a sticky sheen and a few lonely souls looking for connection on a dancefloor. More than anything, it’s a metaphor for confronting times in my life where I’ve pulled back the veneer on things I was taught to accept or expected to enjoy. The track speaks to a time where I had no choice but to listen to that inner voice – even if it meant leaving on my own.
The concept of home is always nuanced, and this is captured in the accompanying video. Noon says:
The clip flashes between two contrasting locations, one being a night-time cityscape with rich colours and full body performance. The other location symbolises ‘home’, a place to which I have retreated and can move slowly and contemplatively through. This place is new to me, and I’ve had to face up to some difficult truths to get there. I wanted to capture the symbolic nature of the song, in that ‘home’ wasn’t so much a physical location but rather a more honest relationship with myself, one in which I didn’t ignore that nagging gut feeling that lets me know when a situation isn’t right for me.
The lyrics are similarly layered. While they could apply to any night out, Noon also encapsulates the sense of anxiety and vulnerability when you’re away from home:
Somebody call me a car, I don’t belong
Somebody call me a car, oh
Just like what they’re playing
It’s a bad imitation of a love song
I could stay but I need to go home
This complexity of feelings is captured in the music: Noon’s vocals are heartfelt and golden above the syncopated beat and synth wash with indelible melodies:
Out through Bigpop Records, you can download/stream the single here and through the link below:
