Neil Valmonte – “The Road I Didn’t Plan On”: Finding Beauty in the Unexpected
Everyone likes surprises, but sometimes there are surprises that people don’t like, cos they never planned it, but what’s the joy in it if every plan has to fall in place? Take it like planning to visit a place you really don’t know, then you use a GPS app that recalculates every time you miss a turn, it’s stressful yeah, but sometimes those unexpected detours lead you to much better places than you planned, and that’s the beauty of life. Well connecticut singer-songwriter and producer Neil Valmonte captures that feeling of surprised acceptance on his sophomore single, “The Road I Didn’t Plan On“.
Now this track is quite magnificent, the instruments and everything are just top notch. It’s a track built to help you reflect on life’s unexpected turns and hard times. If you’ve been following his journey, you’d know his last single was about resilience, and on this release, he decided to give us a hopeful, grounded atmosphere that says what feels like a bad choice today sometimes becomes the very thing that shapes who you are tomorrow. Life can turn in any direction it wants, and sometimes you can’t control it no matter what, even when you think you’re in control it’s probably life doing what it wants.
If everything we plan on just happens the way we planned it all the time, then life would have been really different and somehow difficult and easy. Difficult because who will serve? And who will be a boss? Who will talk and who will listen? After all I can get everything I want and so why should I respect someone or obey something? And that’s the easiest part. So sometimes we have to learn how to embrace the little hindrances and surprises life throws at us, cos maybe it’s a better option than what we actually envisioned.
I must say Neil Valmonte is someone that create tracks that makes you feel like sitting alone in a quiet basement studio late at night, flipping through memories, playing back old decisions and reflecting on where we are now. I like his creative process, it feels deeply personal, and how he treats music as a raw release of inner thoughts rather than a product built for radio trends is really fascinating.
He has crafted a piece that that centers entirely on reflection, and I say he nailed it. Nothing feels heavy here, the instrumentations are light, airy, leaving behind anything heavy from his previous release. This is more warmer, you get this sweet semi-acoustic guitars and some soothing melodic violas that weave gently through the track whilst calming the listeners nerves. The track is really good, it has that lonely afternoon drive when you want to have some time for yourself and see how life goes. It’s got that wonderfully intimate and close-up feeling to it that I love Soo much. The song is beautiful and the way the rhythm moves at a calm, unhurried pace, letting every acoustic strum and violin stroke breathe naturally is wholesome, it puts the listner in a relax mood, where he can ponder on the lyrics and enjoy every moment of it.
“The Road I Didn’t Plan On” questions how we label experiences as strictly good or bad when we have no idea what happens in the next second. Do you get it? Like yeah you had good time, but what happens in the next few minutes from that moment is unknown, so what if things go south? Is it still a good moment? Now everything you plan is going bad, and therefore you’ve labeled it an awkward bad luck moment, but what happens next might change that outcome so why can’t we accept whatever life throws at us and find the best in it? It’s a track that encourages listeners to sometimes accept whatever happens in their life, make peace with and continue their journey, for life can never be smooth throughout, yeah some may get it and some too may not.
To me “The Road I Didn’t Plan On” is really an intriguing piece that offers a comforting, human escape from the chaos of the world. It gives you room to relax, have time with yourself and enjoy every bit of it, whilst delivering an honest songwriting and gentle acoustic instrumentation that will make you pause, breathe, and appreciate your own unique path. It goes on to show that we are different, and everyone may have different experiences even at the same job or field doing the same thing. So go ahead, stream “The Road I Didn’t Plan On” and enjoy your journey and know that everyone’s journey is different even if they use the same path!
Enjoyed that and want more? Check Neil Valmonte out on the links below;
English