“The end of summer and a stagnating relationship intertwine on Minnesota singer-songwriter John Swardson's moody new single, "The Leaves." In Swardson's haunted-sounding vocals over a lone acoustic guitar, the lyrics alternately paint a vivid picture of the landscape changing around the couple ("There was a crack as loud as thunder / A red oak bowed and fell") and share telling snippets of conversation between two people in completely different places mentally: "She said, Johnny I need something here to change / He said, Well today was sunny, tomorrow looks like rain."

The despair of feeling time passing by while nothing changes is palpable: "We’re chasing what keeps us alive / We’re racing the dreams in our eyes." There can be a claustrophobic feeling when winter approaches and forces us to hunker down, and a similar feeling when a relationship is spinning its wheels. But there's also the opportunity for transformation, no matter how painful. There's a breath of relief by the end of the song as something finally does change. Suffice it to say, there's a nice subtle double meaning to the title ‘The Leaves’."

~ Carol Roth, Adventures in Americana