Americana’s Josh Rennie-Hynes Reconciles Our Past with Our Future on “Chapter” (premiere)

Priding himself on his cross between undulating, indie rock-driven guitars and the straight-ahead roots of Americana, Australian singer-songwriter Josh Rennie-Hynes traveled to Nashville to record his new album, Patterns, after receiving a prestigious grant from the Australian Council for the Arts. Hailing from the forthcoming album, due 27 September, “Chapter” sees Rennie-Hynes looking back on a life well-led. Leading with yearning, guitar tones that are instantly redolent of the song’s philosophical nature, the artist sells it with its wishful chorus, sifting through the ebb and flow that our lives all inherently produce.

Regarding “Chapter”, Rennie-Hynes tells PopMatters, “It’s a song about reconciling our history with our future in some ways. What our societies and structures have been built on, both good and bad. Recognizing that there is pain right alongside beauty and things are rarely straightforward or black and white, the more you inspect them. Where have we been and where do we want to go, collectively? These questions were circling in my mind when I wrote this song.”

“I actually wrote the verses for this song when I was still living in Australia. The chorus came to me once I’d moved to Nashville. So you could say it’s a two-nation collaboration. Bada bing, bada boom.”

“Chapter” is due for release on 29 June.