When NE Volume caught up Anthony Vacher earlier in the year, talk was quickly directed towards a stack of material already written, recorded and awaiting release. “Just wait til you here the new material, it’s some of my best work yet” was the promise. No pressure there then.
Structurally “I’m home” builds on similar musical foundations to Vacher’s previous 2018 single “I don’t want wake up”, looking to push a winning combination even further into pop perfection. Focused around strong vocals, deep rhythms and displays of the amount of inner confidence needed for terrifically self-aware lyrics, ‘Home’ sets out to do what the best of pop music should, namely to disguise serious and important messages behind strong melodies and feet tapping tunes. Clearly Vacher is aiming for the hallowed Stock, Aitken and Waterman ground with this one.
Where we end is not far from the target at all. Close in style to the moments of dynamic acoustic-guitar-meets-pop-rhythms championed by Erasure’s ‘A little respect’ or Gary Barlow’s ‘Let me go’, ‘Home’ centres around the combination of a strong, repetitive, lead rhythm guitar structure and a Mowtown sounding drum kick. It’s a technique which provides a jubilant and celebratory feel.
Yet as strong as the music is, ‘Home’s real triumphs lie in Vacher’s voice and it’s storytelling. Led through a narrative which is both confessional and vulnerable, ‘Home’ seeks solace in the belief that a home need not be a physical place, but rather a state of mind, a feeling of belongingness, or the arms of a loved one (“I’m home/ when I’m with you I feel home/ When I’m with you I’m home”). Paradoxically, our author’s key message is not the ability to know what a home is, rather our ability to be honest with the people we love. How, asks Vacher, can we find the strength to let others know that they’re all that we need?
Juxtaposed in its narrative, Vacher’s vocals steal the track with a style of emotive, contrasting, deliveries which provide context to the song and underpin it’s emotional uncertainty; vulnerable one moment, full of self-belief the next. As difficult as the job should be, Vacher makes it seem rather effortless and simple, allowing his voice to be used as a vehicle to blend a personal story and an upbeat sound together.
‘Home’ arrived with a stack of confidence. Perhaps even he ended up underplaying it.