Slowing down the pace once again with new releases, on the 19th of September, the Danish singer-songwriter, Nicklas Sahl delivered a new melody – Love of My Life, accompanied by a sublime music video.
In 2018, Sahl made his debut with the song Hero, later releasing his full debut album Planets which reached no. 4 on the Danish music charts as well as a gold status. In 2020, he once again rocketed onto no. 1 on the charts with the album Unsolvable.
His new release, a slow-paced and emotionally touching single Love of My Life, combines piano sounds, with pop guitar and vocals, striking the balance between musical tradition and novelty. Sahl’s vocals, soft but poignant, sing out songs of the complexity of human emotions – love and loneliness as co-existing narratives.
Nicklas Sahl delivers his listeners “two and a half minutes of truly effective calm. It’s a standout, beautiful, timeless pop song from an independent voice that dares to go against the grain in a hyper-perfectionist world, exploring the strength of human flaws. ‘Love Of My Life’ tells the story of “the one and only” – the dream and the chase – but also the loneliness when true love doesn’t exist. The song’s message and plot twist are brought to life in the music video where Sahl and acclaimed Danish actress Fanny Bornedal mirror the contrast between togetherness and solitude.”
Standing out from his largely up-beat and lively tunes, Sahl encourages reflection by accentuating that our eternal chase for emotional experiences can leave us feeling void of fulfilment and paradoxically disillusioned. His music video with the actress Fanny Bornedal, perfect the visual portrayal between fantasies and dreams lived out in one’s imagination in a reality that leaves solitude and quiet.
Nicklas Sahl explores for PM Studio “Love of My Life is about the dream of finding true love – and just as much about how exhausting, painful, and endlessly lonely the search for it can be. That feeling of knowing she must be out there somewhere, yet having no idea where to look. Hinge dates, endless nights out, and solo bike rides home through Copenhagen started to feel more and more meaningless. I wrote this song mostly as a way of letting go of the pressure to find ‘the one’ – with the quiet hope that sometimes, it’s only when you let go, that you actually find what you’ve been searching for.”
Ending the song with accepting the solitude that life comes with, Sahl releases the tension of chasing thoughts and reveries, saying farewell to the never-ending race for love.
In a Q&A with On-Magazine about previous releases (Don’t Mind), Sahl explains his need to leave the music unfiltered, natural and not-too-polished. Although Love of My Life is very harmonic and subtle, there remains a raw and natural fragility as a key, outstanding feature of his music.
Love of My Life may take the artist, Nicklas Sahl, once again to the apogee of Danish charts, and maybe not only Danish ones. You can listen to the song across various streaming platforms, watch the music video using the link below. Using this opportunity, I would like to remind everyone to support favourite artists by purchasing physical media and showing up during events!
Article by Rozalia Lewandowska
Nicklas Sahl – Love of My Life (Official Music Video)
Other sources:
A Q&A with Nicklas Sahl. Danish singer-songwriter in conversation.
Nicklas Sahl Releases New Song “Love of My Life” – pm studio world wide music news