“Love Sonnet for Mikey” is over almost as soon as it starts, and yet it doesn’t feel slight. If anything, the short runtime sharpens its impact. It arrives, says what is needs to say and then departs.

The song is built around a poem written in 2019 after the death of the author’s brother, Mikey. Instead of rewriting the text to fit a standard song structure, j dylan paul lets the poem take the lead here. The lyrics stay exactly as they are, and that decision gives the songa gravity that is totally natural. One line “to help the grass grow arms to cradle you” is echoed briefly like a thought circling back on itself.

“Love Sonnet for Mikey” lives in a quiet corner of indie and electronic music. Synths hang in the background, guitar slips in without calling extra attention to itself and the drums move steadily underneath.

Its the vocals though where the song really takes shape. Paul has spent years releasing instrumental music, and working behind the scenes as a mixing engineer, and it’s this track that really marks one of their first steps forward as a singer. The voice works because it’s not forced or overly produced. It sounds like someone choosing to sing because the song requires it.

The final recording replaces the demo’s programmed elements with live performances – drums by Tim Stefaniak and recorded at New Alliance in Somerville, MA, with guitar by Sherman Tsui. Those choices give “Love Sonnet for Mikey” a physical presence that keeps it grounded, even as the song itself feels almost fragile.

Where this song started out as a personal gesture, it ends up becoming a complete turning point. Short, careful and quietly affecting, it leaves the listener with the sense that whatever comes next is going to matter more because this exists.

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