Review: "Edinburgh" - Chris Bates

Breakups can be difficult and so bittersweet. Sometimes they don’t go well and are tough for the individuals involved, but still hold good times to look back on. In some cases, we still wish the other person well, even if things didn’t work out the way we had hoped. Chris Bates’ captures this perfectly in his new single, “Edinburgh.” Bates describes the song’s meaning by saying: “I wrote this song fairly recently about a breakup. Things didn't go so well and the breakup was rough, but the song reflects on the good times and ultimately wishes her well, and hopes she receives all she wants from her new life after the relationship.” From this experience, Bates has created a beautiful song that many of us can relate to.

The song’s instrumentation is simple, yet beautiful. It features just piano and Bates’ dreamy vocals to showcase his wonderful songwriting and voice. “Edinburgh” is a ballad reminiscing on Bates’ recent breakup. The mixture of the slow tempo, bittersweet lyrics, and soft vocals create a melancholy mood that would be expected from a breakup. An example of these bittersweet lyrics come from the chorus: “I hope you like it in Edinburgh/I hope it’s all that you wanted/I hope that it’s not too cold in the winter/I hope you like it in Edinburgh/Here it’s lonely without ya/But whenever a violin plays I’ll think of ya.” These lyrics perfectly convey the emotions many of us have felt in a breakup like this, ranging from wishing the other person well to reflecting on the times we had with them. The combination of lyrics like these and the simple beauty of the song’s composition, “Edinburgh” is sure to pull at the heartstrings.

Chris Bates, a rising pop star from Auckland, New Zealand, dropped his debut EP, they don’t know a thing about me, in 2020. In October 2021, he followed this with they don’t know a thing about me 2.0, the EP’s sequel. “November (No Hard Feelings)” was the EP’s standout single, garnering 150,000 streams and hitting Spotify’s New Music Friday AU/NZ and Peaceful Pop playlists. New singles, “Lose My Mind” and “Tired of This,” start a string of new releases that will extend into early 2023. “Edinburgh” is the most recent standalone single, being featured on the New Music Friday AU/NZ, Peaceful Pop, and Pop n’ Fresh playlists.

Written By Cheyenne Johnson

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