You can hear it in the first few seconds the gentle tremor of heartbreak. As soon as Uusikaupunki’s new single “Only with You” begins, you sense that something deeply personal is unfolding. Written, recorded, and produced entirely solo in a studio the artist built inside a former East London art gallery, this stripped-back track feels more like a piece of confessional poetry than a carefully constructed pop song. The sparse instrumentation and unpolished vocals give it a raw vulnerability that stands out in a world full of perfectly edited, online personas. This isn’t a perfect song, and it doesn’t try to be. This is love on the brink, expressed in a voice that cracks not for effect but because it carries the weight of real emotion.
Atmospheric and shimmering, with a clear nod to Sonic Youth, “Only with You” floats more than it distorts, surrounding the listener in a soft haze of sound. The lyrics are direct and minimal, echoing the emotional clarity of John Lennon’s solo years. There’s also a touch of Neil Young’s delicate emotional register in the vocal tone a quiet openness rarely captured in today’s polished recordings. While this track doesn’t yet reflect the funk and soul influences found elsewhere on the EP, it defines the record’s emotional tone. It’s soft, restrained, and quietly heartbreaking.
What makes “Only with You” stand out isn’t just its lyrical simplicity or lo-fi production; it’s the authenticity behind it. You can hear the room tone, feel the sweaty stillness of a live take. This isn’t a demo cleaned up for radio. It hasn’t been crafted and filtered into some polished product. Instead, it’s an honest transmission about loss, change, and memory. It’s the kind of song that lingers long after the final note fades.
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