A motorbike accident puts time in a different gear. River Roots—the van-dwelling UK duo of Matt and Gem—wrote “Be Still” in the aftermath of metal meeting asphalt
The couple met their sound on Australian highways in 2012, Matt picking up a guitar while surrounded by easy sunshine and open road. Gem joined the musical conversation three years later, and their decade-long relationship bleeds into every harmony here. You can hear two people who have watched each other sleep, who know how the other breathes. Their voices lock together with the ease of shared history.
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“Be Still” works because it actually earns its optimism by moving through legitimate darkness first. The motorbike accident grounds the abstraction, gives the healing arc something to heal from. Matt and Gem understand that peace requires acknowledging the struggle that preceded it, that stillness only means something when contrasted with chaos. You finish the track and believe these two people actually experienced what they’re singing about, which might be the highest compliment you can give any folk song claiming to heal. The van keeps rolling. The scars remain. The music holds both truths without flinching.
*The song was submitted via SubmitHub. The editorial decision was made independently.
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