Hidden Gem: “Jealous” by Labrinth

“Jealous,” from Brit R&B crooner Labrinth, may not be packaged as a country song, but make no mistake: the song has country all over it. Written by Labrinth with Nashville’s Josh Kear and Natalie Hemby, the song feels almost Pablo Neruda-esque lyrically, with rich, evocative imagery that’s both subtle and true.

The trio wrote the song during a writing trip the Londoner took to Nashville. “I wanted to learn how to be a better songwriter,” he tells MTV of the writing trip, “as well as being a good producer. It was a great trip to teach me how to upgrade my skill.”

“I’m jealous of the rain / that falls upon your skin / it’s closer than my hands have been / I’m jealous of the rain,” Labrinth begins. The instrumentation relies almost solely on on a piano, letting the lyric and Labrinth’s quavering vocal lead the emotive change.

Labrinth has explained the song, released in late 2014, as being addressed to one of his parents, who left when he was four.

“A lot of people have been through that experience,” he told MTV at the time. “It’s kind of written from the perspective of how my family felt at the time, but I wanted to write it so anyone could dig into the song and relate to it to their own situation.”

The result could be one of the strongest songs this decade. Take a listen (or several) above.

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