You know those suppressed memories that pop up out of nowhere? The ones with an ex you didn’t even know you remembered? The ones that occupy your mind and wash over a sense of nostalgia and wistfulness? Daniel Shaw sure knows that feeling and writes about those moments in his song “Used to Be.” Memories like that are hard to shake off and take time to get over, but Shaw turns those memoirs into musical inspirations.
At only 20 years old, Shaw is writing music that even the oldest, most experienced people can relate too. You would think that releasing an album at 12 years old would cause burnout in the industry, but Shaw grows stronger everyday especially after the recent release of his EP, Cross the Line. The details he puts into his keyboard flow out into genuine emotions; self-expression and intimacy are the definitive details found in his music.
There are walks you take when you want to clear your mind, and there are walks you take to sort through all the clutter in your mind. In “Used to Be,” Shaw does both at the same time. It’s nearly impossible to shake off memories of a past significant lover, and in the video, flashbacks play of Shaw and his ex-partner’s most intimate moments. At one point, Shaw sits on a crowded boardwalk as the people around him are living in reverse. Alone and aware, he wants to block out old thoughts to move forward and move on.
