Upon hearing the first line from New England folk singer Avi Jacob’s debut single with his new band Hawk in the Nest, I felt like one of those judges on “The Voice” who looks up in startled disbelief at what they’ve just heard from the unknown singer behind them. Now don’t get me wrong, it wasn’t in a cynical way, since I had never heard Jacob’s music before, and I didn’t know what to expect. It was the power in Jacob’s voice, which packed a punch to my gut that produced a slowly inflected “whoa” from my lips. The song, titled “Don’t Leave Me This Way,” which was released Dec 5, is a smooth yet upbeat track where Jacob grapples for closure despite asking for reconnection. The light blues/jazz instrumentation that soon kicked in swept me away to the 1970s, with the familiar sounds of soft rock artists Carole King, James Taylor, Player, and Atlanta Rhythm Section. During the chorus, the melody of the accompanying piano, played by Noah Jones, is reminiscent of Atlanta Rhythm Section’s hit, “So into you,” which lingered in the back of my mind throughout, compelling me to eventually hum it out loud. Yet the organ, played by special guest Noah James, embodies the underlying grief of the track, which is otherwise not too heavy or melancholy. The organ ultimately stands out as the one element that’s crying out for help. Joel Hamilton plays the bass and provides backing vocals on the track, while Jacob wrote the music and lyrics. As the first track off of Hawk in the Nest’s debut LP, “Don’t Leave Me This Way,” personifies the much larger theme of being left behind, or of being stuck in a certain place or time in life. With lines like, “One foot out the door love,” and “I take responsibility, I’m sorry,” you can feel Jacob seeking something beyond his reach, yet the steady bravado of his vocal tone conveys the loss that is already known or has perhaps already been accepted.
If there is anything that haunts a listener on this track, it’s the repetitive chorus, which is bound to stay stuck in your head for hours. After a while, the chorus of “Don’t Leave Me This Way” begins to actually sound like, “Is this really happening?” or “How is this really happening?” Jacob also constantly repeats the line, “Everything is better when you’re around,” in an almost self-soothing way, as if he is holding on to something to either keep from being defeated, taken over by something else, or from being left behind. Back in 2022, Jacob told Motif that he likes to write and play songs “that mean as much as possible in a way that best serves them,” and “Don’t Leave Me This Way” is no exception. This song not only captures the longing of lost love but the conviction of wanting to move forward, embrace change, and a new chapter constantly rings throughout. The last line, “When things finally start to change,” leaves the situation up in the air, and as a listener, a part of me longs for Jacob and his band to not to leave us this way, but in this case, it can’t be helped. “Lyrics are everything,” Jacob said. “I don’t perform a song or record it until I feel 100 percent confident about every word.” •
For more information, visit hawkinthenest.com.
Photo courtesy of the artist’s website.