The release was done via radio play and video so it is hard to judge the 'show' this way. Strangely most of the video does not contain James. It follows a Nordic man and his adventures in the snow doing Tai-Chi, Yoga and jumping into frozen rivers with his dog! There are lots of different angles, close up and panned out, of James moving through the snowy forest in his long black coat and singing aloud. All in all it has a nice atmosphere but slightly out of place for an early summer contest and/or a not particularly snowy nation. I would suggest that the stage show at Eurovision could follow a similar theme but I don't actually think this backdrop goes fully with the words in the song.
The video has quite a long pre-intro and outro of the man in the video talking about his mind set and how he feels about life. Discarding these parts the song itself starts quietly with just a basic guitar strum. As it progresses a very pronounced drum beat comes in which starts the song motoring along when there is then a short bridge straight into the chorus. The chorus is quite short and succinct however the last line, which includes the name of the song, is repeated a number of times. Also the phrasing of the title is also not as what you would expect with a pause just before the word 'breath'. We then have a second verse which is much more full in ins orchestration before going straight into another chorus. Just before the two minute mark there is one more quite bridge before the last repeat of the chorus.
The song isn't particularly difficult to sing and it quite repetitive with rather simplistic tunes, which make it easy to sing and easy to remember. This should also mean that the majority of it should be performed well live. There is also pronounced backing vocals during the chorus so we should see the this, possible styled as a choir of some kind, on the stage with him. The studio version, particularly in chorus feels a bit flat and over produced and I am hoping this part might sound fuller and have a bit more meaning to it when sung live.
This is a pleasant entry and it ticks many boxes. It has some drive and heart to it but it also *still* comes across as safe and slightly neutral. After a few more listens the song starts to grow on you and you appreciate the earworms and repetition, but this luxury is one that is wasted at Eurovision. Interestingly the song is rather short being almost 2:30 in length. As much as this could be kept as it is, this gives scope for extra repetitions of choruses, or final line thereof, or extra breaks between the different parts to keep it going for a little longer.
This is certainly not a bad entry but not bad does not equal good. This will appeal much more to juries than the televoting public, and although this is a commercial song it still doesn't quite have that 'call to arms' that many other songs will have. In particular I don't think a snippet of this will stand out aurally against other entries already selected which have a definite genre, style or hook about it. It's OK and it won't be troubling the left hand side by the end of voting but looking at this as a long term strategy for finding the UK a Eurovision entry, this is not a bad starting point. Onwards and upwards.
Artist - James Newman
Song - My last breath
Composers - Adam Argyle, Ed Drewett, Iain James, James Newman
Lyricists - Adam Argyle, Ed Drewett, Iain James, James Newman
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