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The construction of Pamela Hopkins’ new single “Back When” is a model of obeying songwriting fundamentals. Her latest song begins on a muted yet lyrical note with gentle acoustic guitar providing an elegant musical backdrop. The verses have a languid, dream-like feeling, akin to the memories upon which the lyric hinges, that graduals builds to a potent, yet deliberate, payoff. It isn’t rocket science and doesn’t need to be. The strongest connections an artist can foster with their audience are the clearest ones and “Back When” connects with listeners on an elemental level thanks to its skillful composition.
Another mark of its merits is its ability to succeed in any context. It is a single release, but “Back When” shares common ground with Hopkins’ preceding releases and would work near the beginning or end of any full-length release. Its elegiac nature doesn’t mean it’s a joyless experience. Even though the lyrics are looking back to a time and place no longer existing except in the singer’s mind, affection warms many lines.
Any song about this subject will risk cliché. It is one of life’s truisms, no matter who you are, that you will, as you age, look back more. Some of those memories will make you smile. Some will always pain you. Hopkins confronts longing for the past in an unabashed way and manages to reconcile it by song’s end; these art forms, like all others, demand resolution. By the time we reach the end of Pamela Hopkins’ “Back When”, we are certain she will go on. It is a victory transcending any cliché or trope.
Her voice has ample lungpower but she’s versatile enough to incorporate multiple emotions into her performance. It is an unmitigated pleasure to hear how attentive she is to each word and coaxes them out without ever allowing her voice to overpower the lyrics. She weaves her voice to play off the arrangement, singing to the song, rather than attempting to dominate the performance. These are releases bearing her name, but Hopkins always sings as if she is a band member rather than any sort of “star”.
She has all the makings, however. Her recent spate of single releases is co-written with an assortment of Nashville based writers but “Back When”, for instance, still burns with a fierce identity. It feels and sounds like her flesh and blood is fully displayed for us and it makes the single an even more fulfilling listen. It isn’t difficult to be incredulous that Hopkins’ has made piano bars, however high-flown, her primary choice for live venues. Her talent deserves and is more than capable of filling the largest stages across the world.
“Back When” is a life-affirming track that, nevertheless, aches with emotion and loss. Eden is gone; the years have long since displaced us from the idyllic, if not idealized, play and wonder of our youth. This single, however, makes the case that it doesn’t really matter so long as those Edens still live within our memory.
by Jennifer Munoz
