Heartbreaking Bravery

Towards the end of last month, Liam Betson quietly released the absolutely stunning The Cover of Hunter on the increasingly impressive Double Double Whammy, who are now in the midst of one of 2014’s hottest release streaks (one that’s set to continue with LVL UP’s impending Hoodwink’d). It’s a record that’s continuing to strike a deep chord with a lot of people across a variety of scenes. Trading in his Liam the Younger moniker in favor of his given name proved to be an effective move when provided with the context of the album, Betson’s rawest and most honest work to date.

While the entire record is good enough to rank among the very best of the year, it’s the closing track that provides The Cover of Hunter with its most startling moment. Opening with the line “Bobby, coming out is scary and any advice doesn’t feel right” all but guarantees the full attention of the listener. On a record where coming to terms with a variety of things is a recurring motif, “Rapture in Heat” is the one that confronts it the most directly, to an absolutely devastating effect. A tragic melody plays out in both the instrumental and vocal composition, even when the song switches gears from the piano-assisted beginning and turns into a mid-tempo basement pop number, there’s still a sense of loss that permeates through the song.

One look at the lyrics of the last stanza only confirms how weighty the subject matter that closes The Cover of Hunter out is. Any song that ends along the lines of “You want to be loved but say that you don’t” is capable of rendering discerning listeners temporarily speechless- and any song that does it half as well as “Rapture in Heat” will always be worth listening to. Ultimately, it’s the subtle bravery that defines “Rapture in Heat” which also helps it become something more transcendental and lends a powerful sense of closure to one of 2014’s best records.

Listen to “Rapture in Heat” below and order The Cover of Hunter from Double Double Whammy here.