When my dad passed away in 2018, I learned how to drive. I was 28 and I decided I needed to do something with myself. After I passed my test, I got an old Fiat Punto and the radio station saved on one of the presets was Smooth FM. It’s a cheesy station here in the UK with loads of easy listening and 80s songs. Growing up, I hadn’t really enjoyed 80s music. I felt that the sounds were pretty abrasive at times. I don’t know exactly what changed. Maybe it was the freedom of having my first car that was now associated with 80s guitar tracks like ‘Missing You’ by John Waite and ‘The Living Years’ by Mike and the Mechanics - the latter having a very apt line about not being there the morning his father passed away, which rang true with me while I drove my little Fiat Punto around town. It could have been the exposure I got to Latin ballads of the 80s, too. I’d also decided to learn Spanish around that time, and found Luis Miguel. His album Aries is full of cheesy 80s keys and romantic ballads, which I absolutely and unironically love. Through friends who listened to a lot of Bon Iver, I found Bonnie Raitt after hearing their cover of her song ‘Nick of Time’. I started to explore Raitt’s music and discovered Bruce Hornsby’s work through the keys he played on Raitt’s ‘I Can’t Make You Love Me’ - a masterpiece. I’m no pianist, just a guitarist who has a midi keyboard to fill musical gaps in arrangements. But I hope the influence of Hornsby’s work comes through in the second verse of ‘Falling In’, which I think is probably my proudest piece of work. Although (like almost all my songs) ‘Falling In’ was born as a simple acoustic guitar ballad, I decided to play it on my electric guitar at the time (an arctic white Mexican Fender Strat) and whack a load of chorus on it. I showed my friend Ross, he’s a talented musician who’s had a massive influence on my music - it really helps to bounce ideas off him. He loved the chorus. I’d been listening to Prince and found a setting on Guitar Rig modelled after his ‘Purple Rain’ tone. The rhythm and solo guitars are clearly massively influenced by Prince. It’s probably pretty obvious too that the drums are a big nod to ‘Against All Odds’ by Phil Collins. Maybe it’s pastiche, but I just enjoy the soundscape. I hope to have put my own stamp on this mixture of musical elements from 80s ballads. Submitting songs to blogs is a bit gruelling, but one key bit of feedback I received was that I have a strong sense of melody. I do feel proud of some of the choruses I’ve made, especially this one. ‘Falling in from the outside’ - as simple as it is, there’s something very musical about the idea of putting two opposing ideas together and observing the contrast it creates. Joni Mitchell’s ‘Both Sides Now’ is a great example of that. The subject matter of the song - wanting to fall in love for the first time - is really evident with some very direct (and not so subtle) lyricism. I can now say that I’m lucky enough to know how that feels. I hope you enjoy ‘Falling In’.