Singled Out: Tamar Berk's stay close by

Tamar Berk just released her new alt-pop single and video "stay close by", from her forthcoming album "ocd", and to celebrate we asked her to tell us about the song. Here is the story:

Even though "Stay Close By" is the opening track on my new album ocd, it was actually the last song I wrote. I had been struggling with how to begin the album. I tried a bunch of different track orders, but nothing hit quite right-none of the songs felt like the beginning. I knew the vibe I wanted: a slow invitation, something that set the emotional tone and pulled the listener into my world-but also left a little mystery hanging in the air.

Eventually I just said, screw it-I'm cutting one of the songs I wasn't fully buying into and writing something new. I wanted a song that said, "Hey, this is still Tamar-but it's different." A gentle but deliberate way of saying: I'm shifting a bit, and I want you to come along for the ride.

Sonically, I knew I wanted to open with distortion-but not my usual fuzz. I was craving something darker and heavier, more like a rumbling Big Muff sound that sits low and growls rather than screams. I started chugging through a hypnotic chord progression, and immediately felt like the drums needed to be weird-not straight, not clean. Something loopy and off-kilter that gave it a strange momentum. That rhythm became the backbone of the track and pushed everything forward.

Lyrically, the song explores the idea of all the things we say we'll do-things we fantasize about but never quite get around to. Whether it's taking a road trip, fixing up the house, or changing our lives, we're full of hopeful plans that remain suspended in the future. That sense of yearning and inertia was the spark for this song. When I sing "we always say we should get high... and go for a ride," I'm trying to capture that quiet, aching space between dreaming and doing-and the soft, persistent hope that maybe, one day, we actually will.

When the song was finished and I placed it as the first track, I listened to the album straight through-and I cried. I knew I had made the right choice.

Hearing is believing. Now that you know the story behind the song, listen and watch for yourself below and learn more here

Singled Out: Tamar Berk's stay close by

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