William Knott: “We Don’t Ever Leave” an exercise in constrained, quiet beauty
William Knott is a songwriter, performer, and muser from Kentucky, Texas, and California, where he grew up in Humboldt County, and learned about songwriting from his father and uncle, who were lifelong musicians and musers. Knott soon hit the road, touring with his band Steel Toed Slippers for nearly ten years. After a decade of playing groove-driven intricate rock, he returned to his roots, brandishing an acoustic guitar and a new perspective on music, life, and love.
“We Don’t Ever Leave” is one of William Knott’s latest releases. On it Knott displays heartfelt lyrics, a beautiful vocal delivery, and simple stripped down but confident instrumentation, which includes Knott on the Acoustic guitar and Tyler Nuffer on Lap Steel guitar. The track is an exercise in constrained, quiet beauty.
The emotional, acoustic-stringed pattern is a through-line that the track follows from start to finish.
“We Don’t Ever Leave” isn’t great because of what it adds to the arrangement, but rather, from what it leaves out. By lending itself to a minimalist style, this song sounds, intimate, undaunted and tasteful. It reveals nuances that may go unnoticed on the first few listens because the gentle melody is able to make you close your eyes and drift away in its effortless airiness.
It is only on subsequent listening that you will fully come to appreciate the depth of meaning this song has.
Lyrically “We Don’t Ever Leave” has the exact same effect as the music. What at first sounds like a simple ditto – “We can show and tell / But I don’t see a thing / Inside of you that ain’t in me”- soon becomes a profound statement of being.
Phrases such as these are littered all over the composition – “When I sit with you / One and one make one / Where is it I end / And you start”. William Knott sounds like a fearless warrior of the heart. He goes deep and gives a voice to experiences and emotions that few songwriters can manage to put to paper in such a simple, yet meaningful way.
Most artists are rhetorical, overwhelmingly melodramatic, or cryptically complex when it comes to exploring emotion and passion in song. William Knott, on the other hand, cuts to the core with elegant candor. A good idea would be to listen to “We Don’t Ever Leave” every morning on your way to work.
It will set a positive tone for your day, as well as confirm one of reasons for doing what you do each day.
OFFICIAL LINKS: WEBSITE – YOUTUBE – FACEBOOK – INSTAGRAM – TWITTER – SNAPCHAT
