West London artist Hope Tala has returned with her fantastic new release, ‘I Can’t Even Cry’. It’s a heartbreakingly beautiful piece that places her airy vocal against a simple acoustic guitar accompaniment, decorated by a subtle drum loop and the occasional keyboard flourish. Her delicate lyricism is enough to carry the track, without the need for a musical climax. “I was trying to encapsulate the state of being numb, of being too hurt to feel. It’s special to me for a number of reasons, one being that it’s the first song I ever made with my friend Anoop after two false starts attempting to write together when my personal life was a mess. It felt like a gift, our third time lucky trying to make a song together, to find this one within me, a song that ultimately sees beyond numbness toward hope.” Keep an eye out for more soulful releases from Hope Tala this year. -Dan Peeke