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In the Post #118: City Reign reveal b-side teaser ‘Package It Up’

It’s been a while since we’ve heard from North West band City Reign, so here’s a quick recap. After releasing their album ‘Another Step’ in early 2013, the group are still based in Manchester. Good. They’ll be playing a hometown show at the Castle Hotel on the 21st of March, which I’ve been advised is close to selling out (well done, guys), so if you’re keen on going, you best get on that right away. Why all the excitement? Because there is a new City Reign single out in March, that’s why. Judging from their Instagram, the boys have been very busy recording in the studio, and to whet your appetite until the release next month, they’ve sent over the single’s b-side ‘Package It Up’ for us to listen to.

‘Package It Up’ begins very simply with just guitar chords and Chris Bull’s forlorn vocals; the chords continue throughout the song, with the addition of mournful strings coming into the song later. When I read the song title by itself, I wondered what “it” was, and I don’t think it’s meant to be a specific thing. Like many songs, this “it” can be interpreted and mean different things to different people. “Package it up and we’ll see what we have to / like there’s nothing we can do / package it up so we can all sleep at night / package it up because is not our fight”: there is a sad acceptance in whatever this song is referring to, it’s something that has been recognised as a problem. It feels to me that it’s something that cannot be or has become something that cannot be talked about.

In his last sweeping vocal gesture in the song, Bull’s voice soars with, “there’s nothing we can do”. Is it a secret that is killing you because you can’t tell anyone else? Is it about a situation that someone finds him/herself in that is so desperate, but he/she can’t say anything, for the risk of losing face? The fact that this song leaves the door open to interpretation and can have such universal application to each and every one of us makes it very intriguing indeed.

Clocking in at barely 3 minutes, ‘Package It Up’ is winter melancholia at its best.

8.5/10

Watch for ‘Package It Up’ to be released on City Reign’s own Car Boot Records as the flipside to forthcoming live single ‘See What It’s Worth’ on the 24th of March.