The instant nostalgia of “Locked In” by The Harbours feels a bit like fish trying to decipher the sky. This duo from Leicestershire—Ollie Drakard and Will Massarella-Tyler—aren’t presenting a new idea; they’re dissecting one, over and over. What is emotional struggle, after all, but the world’s most repetitive plot twist? Yet they wrinkle it, fold it, give it new edges—like listening to your own heartbreak through a megaphone.
The guitars and rhythm don’t smugly proclaim anything. They drive on, like a well-lit road you almost want to deviate from. It’s an elastic tension—taut but singable. There’s a familiar cadence, but at the same time, it feels like shaking hands with a memory you aren’t sure is yours.
Lyrically, this single spills paradox everywhere—mostly about the push and pull between holding on and letting go. “Look in my eyes, tell me I’m dreaming”—that line is the crux of a person who stands at the precipice but stares backward towards a door that’s stubbornly ajar. Ever tried to throw away a boomerang you really, really don’t want back? That’s “Locked In”.
They ache over time’s cruel forward march while simultaneously anchoring themselves in the muck of the past. It’s like The Harbours are hinting they fully understand freedom, but would rather we swim in chains a little longer—how comforting, right?
I wonder if Ollie and Will know they’ve brewed a song that walks the same hallways as those art-house flicks with dim lighting and lingering camera shots. Just as you think “Locked In” releases you with its call for freedom, it loops you right back. You’re caught.
And maybe that’s the point. What if breaking free is less about cutting ties and more about learning to live with the knots?
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