Nobody But You comes on softly, dreamlike synths unwinding and shifting beneath musician Highschool Jacob‘s vocal. It isn’t until one-and-a-half-minutes, a third of the way into this song, that we really begin to feel the full drama of this record. Those quiet opening moments give way to a series of big chords and a bolder vocal turn that would feel right at home on a Twin Shadow record.
This is a song that isn’t content to be one thing though, and so it switches between intense drama and hushed intimacy quickly, before shifting back. The key vocal hook - “You’re looking at me like I’m somebody else, I’m looking at you like there’s no-one else” - comes on suddenly, a layered pitch to a drifting loved one, overdubs giving force to Highschool Jacob’s pleas. This is the sound of someone still in love being left - the feeling of disappointment, grief and desperation wrapped up in a sense of not fully understanding what just happened. I thought I was your person, now I’m not sure who I am supposed to be.
It’s a beautiful record. Check it out below.