Track of the Day: Colm Warren featuring Maeve Smyth - 'Truth'

Derry native Colm Warren has brought forth his newwest single 'Truth', featuring the vocals of Maeve Smyth. Set to release on September 15, Hot Press are delighted to feature the romantic indie tune as our Track of the Day.

Previously fronting Northern Irish punk quartet The Twenty, Warren has leaned into a softer, more honest side with his solo music. Off the back of acclaimed singles including ‘Just Me’ and last year’s ‘Choked’, ‘Truth’ is a wonderfully widescreen effort, and a textbook case of Warren's singular orchestral pop. The Joe Egan-produced song greets eagerly-awaited listeners with a stunning duet, delicately put together, with a fittingly gorgeous music video to boot.

The track uses emphatic strings to create and almost Disney-like sense of romance and wonder, building with soft drums, careful percussion, and of course, two angelic sets of vocals. 'Truth' is spine-tingilingly intimate, with the repeating refrain "the truth is I'm in love with you" almost changing meanings and developing a deeper sense of focus with each repeat.

Speaking about the evolution of the song, Warren said: “It was originally premised from the point of view of two people in a relationship that didn't necessarily start out with a view of long-term love, but reluctantly they both come to accept that they are, in fact, in love with one another - perhaps despite their better judgement. I wanted a female lead vocal on it, as the two people are kind of getting to the same point in their thinking and acceptance together.

“Then when I moved back to live in Derry unexpectedly, prompted as a result of COVID, all of that put a few things in perspective in terms of being being close to family and the foundational links you have to where you're from, even though you might not have always appreciated home as fully as you might have. So while developing the song a bit more I thought I would throw in a few references to that as it kind of felt like it fitted.”

The sublime video accompaniments, by Belfast-based filmmaker Matty Killen, was filmed in Derry and features interpretative dance by Lauren Dick of Dansa. A tribute to NI’s maiden city, the video is a perfectly fitting accompaniment to a song that wears its heart and soul on its sleeve.

Check out the video for 'Truth' below.