When I learned that Brooklyn based singer/songwriter Dave Yim – dba as Mount Hudson since his debut EP Sad & Silly in 2016 – started his musical life on classical piano and playing drums in rock bands, I had a hard time reconciling visions of those competing energies with the kind of lilting, acoustic folk/pop of his warm and inviting new single “Lakeside Water.”
Starting off with a slow swaying groove (with subtle, edgy mandolin tension by Marcus Bagala), the multi-talented artist and tender yet passionate vocalist eases us into the conversation and makes sure we, like the person he is addressing his thoughts to, perk up and listen closely. He then shares a clever, colorful narrative (and a reminder to respond via the hook, “Tell me now”) that doubles as an enticing offer about taking risks, breaking free and being totally okay with embracing what amounts to an uncertain future.
Asking with each revisit to the chorus, “Would you ride this train till the end?”, he’s essentially asking someone he hopes is just as whimsical/devil may care as he is if they would like to tag along on the adventure. He offers a vision of that titular “Lakeside Water” for enticing measure. Driven by lovely vocal harmonies (created with Deb Oh), the song breezes gently along before building towards a powerhouse crescendo in a buoyant bridge that asks his prospective partner (and us, as the universal audience) “When was the last time you felt alive? Left those fleeting feelings by the wayside?”
Sometimes, as he continues, life’s about dreaming a million dreams before “finally waking up to more than the sun.” It’s a beautiful, poetic way to remind us that life is fleeting and there’s no time like the present to follow our dreams exactly like remarkable artists like Yim do every day.