Cameron and the Slumberknights first emerged in 2020 with their hip-shaking debut ‘Pour’, with their sound taking influences from Hiatus Kaiyote all the way to Eminem. Their bittersweet jazz nostalgia is front by South African songwriter Cameron Donald and Jim Cornelissen on drums, Ben Thomson on guitar and Dan Collins on bass.
Their latest offering is ‘I Held You So Close’, a dreamy track that dives into themes of heartbreak and naivety. It laments through both rapped and sung sections, with the drums, bass, guitar and trumpet all outlining flowing instrumentation. Towards the end of the track, guest vocalist Alison May laments through the chorus, almost like a cover within the track itself, but gorgeous in its own right.
Frontman Cam shares, “I started writing I Held You So Close on my guitar after I’d finished a shift at the coffee shop I worked in, a summer or two ago now. The track only really came together earlier this year though! I was quite lost at the time, and was regretting letting certain moments slip away from me.
The song came from a place of longing. I was in a very isolated space, and so found myself reminiscing about days-gone-by, and the treasured memories made with people I unfortunately don’t speak to anymore. I Held You So Close is about a Year-6 girlfriend, who later became a high-school girlfriend, and continues to be a beautiful person. She just got engaged, actually! I think it’s fairly normal (I can’t comment on the healthiness of it) to put awesome people on a pedestal when you’re at the foot of it, desperately clawing your way up – especially if there was a genuine friendship between you. Everyone needs a light to help them out of the darkness, and the memories of our adventures throughout our Summer holidays were just that. I Held You So Close is somewhat of a lament, but this young love was a taste of hope
I like to think that my verses on I Held You So Close are quite Seussian! I’ve never before written a verse like the first, and it did take some doing. The Doc was a genius! I was hoping to capture a hopeless romanticism in the vein of ‘roses are red, violets are blue’ using simple end-rhymes, but thankfully it ended up being a lot more vivid! I love the way the verses bounce, with such wistfulness.”
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