The Toronto-based alt-folk/rock artist, producer, multi-instrumentalist, and singer-songwriter Fourth Born pays tribute to our isolated days with a soulful single, "Long Distance."
First attempting to embark on his music career before the pandemic struck, Fourth Born found himself playing gigs full time until our live performance industry plummeted. Back and better than ever, Fourth Born spent most of his quarantine creating a personal acoustic EP entitled 'Snow,' which swooned our ears from beginning to end.
More recently, Fourth Born made his big comeback with a powerful single, "Long Distance." When listening to the single, listeners are bound to fall for Fourth Born's captivating performance and conceptual lyricism, as he paints delicate images while emphasizing the song's emotion with each soulful and folk-inspired instrumental arrangement.
The single, "Long Distance," opens with a crisp acoustic guitar melody and Fourth Born's bright vocal arrangements. As he begins singing an empowering story of finding all the love he needs within himself, Fourth Born later meets up with lush and short keyboard bursts that lead us towards the ground-breaking hook.
Punching through our speakers with incredible soul and passion, Fourth Born and his mid-tempo folk-inspired instrumentals offer all the love and joy we can find from external sources nowadays. With help from a savory and uplifting organ arrangement, the song drifts from major to minor while Fourth Born continues to sing of loving someone from afar and making an effort to appreciate the self-love he's steadily grown.
Allow Fourth Born to remind you that the journey towards happiness begins with self-love and acceptance with help from his latest single, "Long Distance," and let the influential singer-songwriter inspire you to keep your head held high. Find "Long Distance" on all digital streaming platforms.
We can't get enough of the passionate and soulful flairs of your latest single, "Long Distance." What inspired you to create a single that touches on self-love and loving someone from afar?
Thank you! This song was a very intuitive writing approach. I wrote it from a place of agony to be honest - considering it is a relatively upbeat song. I was dealing with a breakup regarding a recent long-distance relationship. It was a relatively clean break but it just seemed premature. She was honest above all and I couldn't help but respect that deep down. I just still loved her and had nowhere to put it. So this song, just as abruptly as the initial breakup, nudged me into the direction of self-love instead. I started working out and eating healthy and decided that it's okay that I love this person. And that it doesn't need to be returned in order to be beautiful. I just turned it in on my self which is extremely important I think. I think it's common, especially for romantics to feel like love is some act of selflessness. It just shouldn't be in my opinion. We should all think for ourselves first before even considering loving someone else. That way it comes from a place of want and not need. If you're going to start a garden, do you want to water the plants, or do you need to? Adding to someone's experience in life shouldn't take away from your own experience. We water plants because we want to watch them grow.
Seeing as you're a producer, multi-instrumentalist, and singer-songwriter, did you create "Long Distance" entirely yourself? What was your solo creative process like?
I did create "Long Distance" entirely independently. This one was a fascinating process. It just intuitively flowed through me. I recorded a guitar and vocal part on my phone recorder the night it came into my head. I was pretty tired so I went to sleep and then finished the song in one fell swoop the next day. It was a very quick process. And it was all tracked in just one day. I spent about 1 hour on the first mix, and then recently did a remix and master it recently upon my decision to release.
How does your single, "Long Distance" stand out from and contrast your latest EP, 'Snow'? Why didn't this single make the cut for the EP?
Snow is what I was feeling before coming to the realization of "Long Distance". The message in the Snow ep revolves around desperation and loss. There's definitely an air of neediness lingering within the snow ep. Dealing with the loss of loved ones can often lead to those sorts of empty feelings. Whether talking about death, break-ups, or just someone simply moving away. There's often a hole left inside of you and it's hard to figure out how to resolve that. Self-love and accepting that the love is not necessarily gone is what "Long Distance" means to me. Releasing the Snow ep and then Long-distance soon after is almost like a call and response to me. Loss in life sucks, but self-love and loving regardless is the answer.
For readers who are now introduced to your music, could you break down what you stand for as an artist and how you intend to use your platform?
Of course, as an artist - I stand for wisdom, truth, and depth. I don't intend on using my platform for anything other than what is my truth in life. As honesty is a value I hold to strongly - and always have. With that said, I often write from a point of fiction so as to expand the tools I have for articulating my honest emotions. My overall intentions with my platform are very clear to me. I'm tackling an issue in the most authentic way I can. And my approach to that is expressed through my music. Overall I want to relate with people who struggle to relate with others.
What can we expect to hear next?
I will be releasing a 7 track ep titled: Thoughts of a ventriloquist. I'm not sure if I'll be releasing it all at once or not. But this ep holds an air of darkness and depth for sure. It's a representation of my adolescence and the darkness felt during those times. In a way, it represents the dark side of being an introverted artist. Pertaining primarily to my hands as my source of expressing myself: much like a ventriloquist does. There's a lack of stability, and second jobs are definitely not uncommon. Crippling self-doubt is also something I've learned to be very comfortable with. It's a body of work that I think could inspire people to take a leap of faith toward something they love to do regardless though. To take a risk in life and find value in something that isn't financially promising. I love my life and I wouldn't trade it for anything. Being an artist is exciting regardless of the level of stability. The joy comes from the creation and the mystery in life itself.