I rarely get into arguments with the music I’m listening to, but Nick Ramirez’s song Stop, Just Breathe proved the exception.
Sandwiched snuggly between indie-rock dynamics a la Cage the Elephant, this is a song about taking a moment to reflect on life and enjoy a breather.
Nick encourages the people, young and old, to engage with this exercise. Still, he claims that this is something “they can’t take away from you”. That’s the one element of the lyrics I take offence to, and imagine a collage of murders and political assassinations, from all eras and places in the world accompanying it as a music video. Then again, this may just be indie-rock irony, a treasured tradition of the genre.
Otherwise, this gets the indie-pop rock stamp of approval. It’s a sweet little summer jam through and through, and, frankly, most mindfulness books advise the same as this tune.
Follow Nick Ramirez on Instagram, Apple Music, Spotify and YouTube.