Establishing the mood with an intricately performed acoustic guitar soundscape with an alt-country adjacency and expanding with textured drums and bass, Bash Co. opens Velvet with timelessness and poetic prowess. The charm-infused lyrics paint a vivid picture of cold streets and fading memories but highlight a love that continues to offer warmth, even when the world around us feels frozen. This metaphorical depth feels really apt and zeitgeist. It’s super relatable to how many of us feel in this day and age with so much global turmoil, human connection is the one lasting hope.
We immediately connect with the song’s poetic imagery and emotional resonance. The repeated hook and declaration, “It’s you in velvet…” becomes a symbol of comfort and intimacy, but also emotional resilience against the odds.
What makes the song particularly fascinating is the way that Bash Co. intertwines this personal love story with the history and atmosphere of Prague. We learn that it was written during a six-day trip to the Czech capital. The track draws inspiration from the city’s architecture, its cultural history, Franz Kafka, and the 1989 Velvet Revolution, so it has an educational edge too, giving the track a deeper dimension.
For the song’s second half, the drums intentionally take on a deliberate marching quality, evoking the movement of troops and the atmosphere surrounding the Iron Curtain and the Velvet Revolution. It’s pretty genius.
We could imagine Velvet being featured in a movie like the Oscar-winning, One Battle After Another, or The English Patient. It would also work in a show like One Day, Smallville, or Normal People.
We are also drawn to the philosophy behind Bash Co. himself. A songwriter since 1999, he describes himself as a teacher, songwriter and “not a singer” by prioritizing the act of creation over personal recognition. His reference to Kafka’s words, “We’re all cages in search of a bird…” reflects this belief and creative purpose.
Needless to say, we are captivated by Velvet and have added the song to our New Music Spotlight playlist, whilst we continue to stream the wider discography of Bash Co. including In Your Eyes, Anyone Like You, and Dungeon.