There is a particular heavy gravity to December afternoons, a specific slant of light that Gavin Fox manages to shoulder and inspect closely in his latest single, “Where I Belong”. This isn’t the shiny, plastic joy of commercial holiday tunes; it is the acoustic texture of the season as it is actually lived—often separated, occasionally lonely, and universally hopeful.
Fox, a Dublin-based storyteller who wears his genre labels—alternative folk, Americana—like a comfortable, weather-beaten jacket, brings a grounded sincerity to this track. But he doesn’t walk this road alone. The song features guest vocals by Lilirose, and their interplay is the engine of the piece. Duets often run the risk of sounding like theatrical tennis matches, yet here, the voices braid together with natural ease. It reminds me, strangely, of the way two tributaries merge into a single river; there is turbulence, yes, but eventually, just a wider, stronger current.
Co-written with guitarist Eric Molimard, the composition rests on a foundation of strings that resonate with the strange elasticity of time. You know that feeling? When a Tuesday without your partner feels like it lasts seventy-two hours? The music captures that distortion. While the lyrics tackle the poignant geography of separation—work, study, the annoyingly physical nature of miles—the delivery is devoid of melodrama. It simply states the truth of the ache.
Listening to the harmonies swell, my mind wandered to the concept of a compass spinning wildly near a magnet. The song posits that we are all unmoored until we return to our magnetic north—our significant other. It’s a declaration of belonging that feels as warm and necessary as wool socks on a tile floor.
Does the concept of “home” exist as a place, or is it strictly a person? “Where I Belong” suggests that without the latter, the former is just a pile of bricks.
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