What started as a submission to his University’s songwriting competition, is now a full fledged follow up single. Israel McFarland didn’t expect “gotta be alone” to be his follow up to his 2020 single “Jazz Chord,” but, thanks to a friend, landed in the hands of the Jonas Brothers, and delivered high praise for the tune.
“gotta be alone” relishes in the highs and lows of life’s emotional rollercoaster. Creating a juxtaposition between an upbeat production featuring both MIDI and live instruments with the song’s serious lyrical content, the tune acts as a metaphor to the expectation of life versus how it’s actually going. Lines like “I’m always looking for silence” and “I’ll be stepping outside like I’m taking a call” denote the struggle of being in the moment and instead opting for moments of peace. There’s nothing wrong with needing alone time, and we’d say McFarland’s tune emphasizes that. One of the most standout moments is when McFarland take a jab at the music industry, acknowledging that you can’t just put out music anymore, there’s a lot more that comes with being an artist, such as content creation, regular engagement on social media, and constantly putting out music. The pleasantries of solitude are hard to come by in this industry, but it’s the love of music that keeps him here, saying: “I know I’m in the wrong industry, I would quit, but I can’t.”
Israel McFarland is an indie-pop singer-songwriter residing in Nashville. He has been writing and making music from a young age, but he knew his line of work in retail was nothing compared to how badly he wanted to record. He released his first single “Jazz Chord” in 2020 that has pulled over 25K streams on Spotify. McFarland is growing steadily with every chance of popping off.
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