IMC Listening guide

Best weather to enjoy this song

Sunny day

Best time to listen

Dusk reflections, Late-night immersion

Best place to listen

At home, Before bedtime

Does this song haunt the silence?

Melody lingers

Goosebumps scale

Moderate chills

Our thoughts

Adam Kirkup finally makes his debut on IMC, and it's a real pleasure! I have already had the chance to listen to his work through Luna Keller’s podcast, "Why Doesn’t Everyone Know These Songs", which I host here on Indie Music Center. There is no doubt that he deserves all the attention he can get.

The story of this song began with a simple phrase overheard in a conversation: "A heart of stone can only break". Adam immediately found it incredibly poetic and decided to follow that thread to the end. And he was right to do so. He let the writing guide him, using an intuitive approach inspired by Luna Keller. He had a guitar riff in mind and a chorus line, and instead of building the song traditionally, he allowed himself to be surprised by what emerged. That is how he ended up writing the opening line of the verse: "I want to hear your story. I want to hear it long". This line took him by surprise but pushed him to explore further.

What really won me over was the simplicity of the production. Just an acoustic guitar, a warm voice, and a beautiful reverb to wrap it all together. No gimmicks, no unnecessary layering, just a raw performance, much like the great folk classics of the '60s, as Adam himself describes it.

The lyrics speak of listening, of support, and of wanting to see someone flourish. It is a song addressed to someone Adam knows, a quiet encouragement, an extended hand, let’s say: "I want to see your pictures, I want to see your world. You’ve put yourself out of frame since you were a little girl". There is something profoundly human in this approach, a sincere kindness that runs through every word, and I love that authenticity.

Listening to this little acoustic ballad is like stepping outside of time for a moment with yourself. You quickly get carried away by this voice, by its warmth, and above all by the underlying question: have we ever had a heart of stone? A perfect companion for your Sunday by the fire. Or a nap in the grass. After all, spring is coming in the Northern Hemisphere.

Adam Kirkup's take on "A Heart of Stone Can Only Break"

Last year, I had the joy of co-writing a (different) song with Luna Keller, and I was so struck by the way she wrote intuitively, allowing a certain lyric or idea to come and then seeing if it led anywhere. And that's the approach I took with this one. I knew I had the 'heart of stone' lyric in the chorus, and I knew I had a nice descending guitar idea for the verse, so I just started singing and seeing what emerged... which is a pretty unusual writing technique for me. And what came out was: "I want to hear your story. I want to hear it long".

Which took me a little by surprise. But I pursued that idea until I had a good idea of who the 'you' in the line is and what the rest of the song might be about. Maybe that all sounds a bit abstract and mystical, but I think as a songwriter, the process of writing is often about unearthing ideas and feelings that we haven't been able to find any other expression for. And this one ended up turning into a little love letter or encouragement to somebody I know. I recorded it with James Wyatt at Sloe Flower Studios here in Chester, UK. And I adore the way it's turned out. I really wanted it to sound like a classic folk recording, where you feel like you're hearing a performance of the song. Almost like Bob Dylan's 1960s records.

A bit more about Adam Kirkup

I'm Adam. I grew up in a tiny village on the coast of Northumberland in the UK. I started writing little songs when I was very small. My dad had an old microphone, and I'd plug it into the stereo and record on cassettes. I learned to play guitar on a battered old nylon guitar that always seemed to be missing a string. In my teenage years, I played in all kinds of bands: experimental math rock, punk, jazz, orchestras. I absolutely loved the DIY attitude and the sense of creative chaos. I was lucky to find something as a teenager that made me feel 'at home'. Fast forward quite a few years, in which making music had taken a backseat to raising a family. But I'd never stopped writing songs, and I'd fallen back in love with my earliest experiences of songwriting: one voice, one guitar. In 2023, after more than a decade without any real public performances, I booked a coffee shop on my birthday, invited a bunch of friends, and played a load of songs I'd written. I called it tender indie folk. And since then, I've had some amazing opportunities to play shows around the UK, write with some amazing songwriters (Luna Keller, Ainsley Costello, and Hein Cooper), and release a few songs. 'A Heart of Stone Can Only Break' is my first single of 2025.

Reach out to Adam Kirkup

Lyrics

I want to hear your story
I want to hear it long
How did you wind up here?
When’d you learn to be so strong?

Don’t back down now
It takes the time it takes
A heart of flesh can grow
But a heart of stone can only break

I want to see your pictures
I want to see your world
You’ve put yourself out of frame
Since you were a little girl

When you look now
I hope you find your place
A heart of flesh can learn
But a heart of stone can only break

I will carry you
I will carry you
I will carry you 
In my heart

Tell me it all
The flutter and the ache
A heart of flesh might bleed
But a heart of stone can only break

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