Let Go

*A different Let Go. Not to be confused with this one.

Photo Credit Ibai Acevedo

I have no idea where this song came from. I have no idea who Everest are, and I don’t know anything about them except that they’re from LA and their sophomore album was released back in May. Their song Let Go showed up in my iTunes last week, and being an equal-opportunity music listener, I popped it on a playlist. Yesterday when it came up on my shuffle for the first time, it felt like an old friend was stopping by to say “Hey.” I didn’t recognize the band, I didn’t recognize the title, but I knew that I had heard this song before. Where? On the radio? No, it’s not charting anywhere. On Hypem? No, there’s only posts about it from blogs I don’t follow. On TV? No, I asked my roommate—a TV enthusiast—if she had ever heard the song used on a commercial or program; she hadn’t.

And then I realized: I hadn’t heard this song before. At least, not technically. But I might as well have for how familiar its formula is: Minor-chord tinged melancholy post folk sung by a heavily bearded 20-something who probably wears a lot of flannel. Think My Morning Jacket, Band of Horses, Minus the Bear (who Everest supported this past fall), etc. It’s been done before, time and time again. But though the formula is tired, it’s still true, and when implemented correctly results in gloriously heartbreaking yet empowering anthems for the vinyl set . Or their mothers, who hear it on the Greys’ Anatomy soundtrack.


Right Click to Download: Let Go--Everest