Guide
Sometimes the best comfort songs are the ones that don’t pretend everything’s fine. The Secret Radio‘s new single “Mockingbird” gets that. It sits right in the mess with you before even thinking about a way out.
Shortwave
The track comes from their debut album “Shortwave” and follows up “Swimming Pool on Mars,” which got people paying attention for good reason. But “Mockingbird” hits differently. It’s quieter, more personal, and somehow bigger at the same time.
Singer Damian Fowler wrote it for a friend going through a brutal breakup, the kind where it feels like the whole world is crumbling along with the relationship. You know that feeling where everything good seems to be ending at once? That’s the headspace this song lives in. Fowler wanted to meet his friend there, not talk her out of it with empty reassurance.
The song wastes no time. Fowler’s voice comes in right with the first acoustic guitar strum, like he’s already mid conversation with you. It’s immediate and intimate. As things build, Bebbo’s electric guitar weaves through without taking over, and Jane Kittredge’s violin brings this folk sadness to the chorus that really lands. Fowler added vocal harmonies later in the recording, and they work like light breaking through. Just enough to make you think maybe you’ll be okay.
The lyrics don’t mess around. God’s gone, the mockingbird stopped singing, the sky’s burning. It reads like a twisted lullaby, all doom and nursery rhyme cadence. But then the chorus flips it. What if this isn’t the end? What if falling apart is actually the point? It’s a small shift, but it changes everything about how the song feels.
British Influence
Musically, there’s a clear British influence here. Early Coldplay’s “Sparks,” Badly Drawn Boy, the more stripped down Ed Sheeran stuff. The acoustic guitar holds it all together while drums and bass give it a pulse that gets under your skin. Those echoey backing vocals in the chorus create space, pulling you deeper into what Fowler’s saying.
The Secret Radio formed in New York and have been steadily building their audience. “Swimming Pool on Mars” showed they could write a story and make you care. “Mockingbird” proves they’ve got range, moving from energetic tracks to something quieter and more thoughtful without losing what makes them compelling.
If you’ve ever felt like everything’s going sideways at once, this one’s worth your time. It won’t fix anything, but it’ll sit with you while you figure it out.
Listen To “Mockingbird” By The Secret Radio
- The Secret Radio, “Mockingbird” – New Music - October 13, 2025
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