A time-honored Nashville songwriter exercise provided the spark for Americana artist Szlachetka’s new single “Let’s Run Away.”
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“My co-writer John Stanislawksi and I did this writer’s exercise where we separated for five minutes and wrote down whatever came to mind. After we flushed out the guitar riff, which John brought to the table, we came up with the first few lines of the first verse and were able tap into the random yet care-free vibe of the song.”
“Let’s Run Away” paints a breezy picture of everyone’s daydream fantasy of packing it all in and escaping whatever hum-drum mundane situation you find yourself caught up in. A playfully energetic descending guitar riff provides a fun accompaniment to the lyric’s light-hearted nature. The punchy track is anchored by driving drums, tight harmonies and crisp, crunchy guitar tracks and a melodic Jayhawks-influenced solo.
“Let’s Run Away” was co-written with Stanislawski during an afternoon jam session in March 2017, soon after Matthew Szlachetka had moved from Los Angeles to Nashville.
“I’ve always been a fan of striking first lines of songs. It’s always a great way to immediately grab a listener and we set out to create a different scenario and landscape for the song.”
It was Szlachetka’s first attempt at writing in that style, spurred on by his writing partner. “Traditionally a lot of Nashville sessions start with writers throwing around titles, ideas/concepts/stories, melodies and non-sequitur lyrics before everyone decides what kind of song they’re going to write. I had never written a song with this exercise before. It immediately put both of us in the moment and we had no other option than being 100% present.”
This stream of conscience experiment immediately got the Nashville-based writer’s blood flowing, and he soon had a first verse, filled with some creative imagery. “Don’t ask me how I thought about a line like ‘Lost in the aisle with a bucktooth smile in a hardware store downtown. Wearing a shit eating grin that could spin a nun’s head around!’ It just hit me like a ton of bricks and I’m glad it did. I don’t normally curse in songs, but this phrase just seemed appropriate to touch on the lightness aspect of the song. We really wanted to create a song that was fun and carefree.
“Let’s Run Away” is the sixth single from Szlachetka’s upcoming 11-song album Young Heart and was produced by Grammy winning producer Scott Underwood (drummer/ founding member of Train). The track was recorded live at Blackbird Studio A and Thunderwood Sound in Nashville during the summer of 2019. In addition to Underwood, Christian Wood plays bass, Jimmy Wallace performs on Farfisa Organ and Sarah Aili and Jamie Kent add vocals.
Szlachetka hopes “Let’s Run Away” provides listeners a much-needed reprieve from the barrage of negativity that permeates the times.
‘Lightness, fun and positive energy is something I’m trying to help put out in the world right now as we enter a new year and leave behind a heavy four years.”
Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/34Wyig6icowsm5Ttc9C2BD
Listen on Apple Music: https://music.apple.com/gb/album/lets-run-away-single/1553480032?ls=1&app=itunes
