I admit I am enamored not only with good music but with a good story. This new folk single If Only It Was Alright Now by UK artist elkyn, is inspired by a moment from the well-known and loved fantasy novel Voyage of the Dawn Treader (CS Lewis). Joseph Donnelly is the 22-year-old songwriter and multi-instrumentalist behind the moniker elkyn. He began writing the music that would become elkyn while at University in Leeds, recording his songs with his brother during weekend visits to the family home in York.
Donnelly describes the inspiration for the song from one of his favorite childhood novels: “If Only It Was Alright Now draws from a chapter in The Voyage Of The Dawn Treader called ‘The Dark Island’. It’s about an island they discover on their travels but as they sail towards it they’re met with a darkness where all their dreams come true, but it’s not what everyone thinks.”
The song has an unpretentious and modest beginning with soft, simple fingerpicking on an acoustic guitar. Donnelly’s soft, soothing voice weaves itself delicately and fluidly into the gentle waves of guitar. It seems to be a ship floating on quiet waters. The song builds slowly with soft, warm beats of percussion and lovely vocal harmonies from a distant shore. There is an innocence and an intimacy to it all that draws me in. Strangely and admiringly, it seems beautifully sad and beautifully hopeful all at the same time.
If Only It Was Alright Now follows the debut ep beech released July 2020 and marks the first of elkyn’s singles recorded away from home at the Nave Studio in Leeds with producer Mark Gustafson.
