New Jersey-born indie artist Adam Melchor is known for his emotional songs on love, heartbreak, and growing up, all themes visible on his sophomore album Here Goes Nothing! which was released on October 21, 2022, under Warner Records. In 2021, Melchor unveiled Melchor Lullaby Hotline Vol. 1, his debut that further pushed him into the romantic limelight for his tender songs and soft melodies. Prior to releasing his own music, he wrote for known established artists like Ashe and The Chainsmokers, before creating his own sound in 2017. Here Goes Nothing! displays Melchor’s powerful songwriting abilities as he tells the story of trying to make a long-distance relationship work, ultimately making a ten-track collection of acoustic, indie, passionate songs.
The album opens with “I’m Afraid I Love You”, the exposition to the story where Melchor describes his fears over being in love in a situation he knows isn’t going to last. The melody is soft with deep electro notes throughout the chorus, warning us that there’s something darker to this seemingly sweet song. The next track, “I’m Ready”, is classic Adam Melchor: charming and acoustic.
“Angel Numbers” shifts the focus from being in love to suspecting a break in the relationship. The song is a vulnerable cry for trying to preserve the love he’s in, especially as he sings, “Right now, I’ll take any sign to prove that I should stay with you.” Melchor keeps this tone change in the fourth song, “Cry”, a track about not wanting to show your true emotions to the person you’re dating, a look at toxic masculinity and what it means to bare your soul to someone. “I don’t wanna cry in front of you/ I don’t know what I am tryna prove/ The weight of my cards on the table/ Makes it unstable, it rocks like a cradle/ And baby, I don’t wanna cry.”
In the sixth song, “Turnham Green”, we see the second shift as the relationship comes to an end, the piece reflecting on a situation where the person you’re with is not who you thought they were, and now the problem seems impossible to fix. “You carved out your decision/ Before you took the turn from me/ The life we almost lived in/ The mornings walking Turnham Green.” The eighth track, “Let Me Know When”, features one of the most iconic indie folk bands, Fleet Foxes. The band joins Melchor on singing about someone’s love dying, “Let me know when you fall out of love with me/ So, it won’t hurt so bad when you leave/ At least then, I’ll expect it/ I’ll tell my heart ‘Accept it’.”
“Dorothy” is a letter to the beloved character from The Wizard of Oz, the ninth song checking in on the girl and expressing how he hoped she was here with him. Here Goes Nothing! ends with “Dear Adam”, a slightly deprecating look on Melchor by himself. The artist’s fan base often describes his music as emotional jazz, and that’s definitely heard on this final track with it’s piano blues and bare vocals. “Dear Adam, I tend to let you down/ Sorry Adam for hurting those around/ One day, I’ll be better/ God, I hope it’s true/ Sorry Adam, I’ll make it up to you.”
Adam Melchor has, over the year, reimagined what it means to write from the heart. Each of his songs is a full look inside his soul, a raw glimpse at what he’s experiencing, and it makes every listen just a little more effective. For someone who bears no censorship when it comes to his feelings, Melchor has developed a gorgeous form of songwriting, releasing every piece of his emotion with the thought of “here goes nothing”!
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