Establishing the mood with a brooding guitar melody, Philip La Rosa opens No Matter with atmospheric vocals and metaphorical prose as he intimately sings, “Born with a weak heart,
only for it to carry too much, despite the scar tissue, filled with love and luck, by your side, until the end, I loved you more than just a friend…”
The opus expands with instrumental mastery and continued poetic prowess to tell the story of loving someone deeply despite the emotional pain that goes with it. Philip La Rosa pours everything into the relationship. He sees beauty and hope, while the other person sees flaws and negativity. This mismatch and toxic energy causes tension and leaves our protagonist feeling torn.
Of course, the song itself serves as catharsis, expanding with cerebral sound design, textured drums and soaring vocals with astral riffs that detail his emotion! We could only imagine how epic this would be to experience in a live setting. There is also a cinematic appeal, and the track would be perfect for a range of coming of age synch deals, or even a psychological drama.
We deeply connect with how the track explores the suffocating nature of unbalanced love. It feels relatable. Philip hides his feelings to keep his partner comfortable, but when he needs support, he only finds absence.
In the end, the relationship falls apart, and the song closes with the bitter truth that sometimes ghosts are easier to love than flawed people. The spoken word notions are welcomed, adding dynamism to the track for the middle eight – almost showcasing Philip La Rosa‘s rap skills, leading to an anthemic finale and trippy outro with reversed details. The production is incredible.
No Matter delivers a cinematic and alternative-pop gut-punch, and we learn that the track was co-written with poet Joshua Britiffe, which explains the exquisite songwriting. It was produced in Perth by Nic Rollo.
Naturally, we have added No Matter to our New Music Spotlight playlist, and our TIMELESS and TRIPPY playlists, whilst we continue to stream the wider discography of Philip La Rosa, and explore the poetry of Joshua Britiffe, including Love and Other Death Sentences.