Think sitting on a swing in a fancy porch with a hot cup of coffee; and you’re reminiscing about a loved one while it rains outside. That’s the vibe that Vernon D’Souza sets in his newest outing ‘With You’. It’s a really wholesome track with a great amount of little hidden easter eggs that you should definitely pay attention to. Some really pretty accordion lines, ukulele trills and mallet instrument lines are tastefully tucked under the main instrumentation of the song.

While it does occupy only a small bit of the song, it goes a long way in adding to the dynamism of the track and not make it succumb to monotony. You can’t be blamed if you don’t pick up on it all the first time because there’s a ton of such tiny little lines scattered all over and it is really satisfying when you find something new with every revisit. 

While it has a strong compositional and production foundation, what really carries the song is some phenomenal lyrics. Vernon’s style of writing is very reminiscent of old Blues lyrics with a hint of new and modern pop. The phrasing of the brilliant lyrics is also very reminiscent of blues but it’s might be the inner John Mayer nerd coming out.

His work TEA is quite different to this but the compositional and lyrical tendencies are shared between the two tracks. They sound different. But they sound like they’re made by the same person. And who doesn’t love a good saxophone solo? Taming a wind instrument is no joke. Making It sound this good is insane. If you’ve dipped your toes in jazz, you’ll hear a good bit of Jazz vocabulary in it and props to Rhya Sebastian for absolutely crushing it on the saxophone. 

Combined with a great choreography and dance performance by Pubali Chatterjee, Vernon has a great release on his hands and it’s a real treat for the listener. Maybe queue it up next time you’re in a mood to slow-dance (maybe not in a burning room) and you’ll have a good time. ‘With You’ does a great job of blending vocal poetry with intricate and beautiful arrangements and composition; all the right ingredients for a good song.