Kimmy Valentine - "Don't Turn Around My Heart"

Beach Day is a band that captured some of my favorite sounds of the early 2010s. They released a series of 7-inch singles and a couple of records on local imprint Kanine Records that meshed well with the lower fidelity, sun-soaked indie pop that dominated the blogosphere. So, as a fan of bands like Real Estate and Best Coast, Beach Day scratched an itch for me and other indie rock fans of the day. The project of songwriter Kimmy Drake eventually went through a few iterations over the last decade, and most recently, she adopted the Kimmy Valentine moniker with the intent of sharing new solo material. The first track, “Don’t Turn Around My Heart,” aptly released on Valentine’s Day and is a classic plea to avoid a broken heart.

“Don’t Turn Around My Heart” describes infatuation through playful musical metaphors. Drake likens feelings of infatuation to a record spinning on a turntable, conceding that this particular love is both sweet and sour. It’s got that classic tension between holding on and letting go—delivered with just enough sass to keep things from getting too self-serious. Drake’s voice is drenched in longing, but it’s also coolly detached—almost like she knows this goodbye is coming, but she still wants to dance in the ruins of the moment. Sonically, Drake maintains the lo-fidelity aesthetic that made Beach Day so pleasing, as the song centers on distorted guitars and a simple, toe-tapping mid-tempo beat.

Stream the track below!

You can listen to the song on your platform of choice. Keep up with the project via Instagram.