Hilang Child - Picture Hanging

In 2020, Hilang Child released the mesmerizing and absolutely stunning “King Quail,” a song that put the British-Indonesian singer, songwriter, and drummer on my personal music map. After a few more singles, Ed Riman, aka Hilang Child, released his brilliant 2021 album Every Mover.

It speaks for the artistry of musicians when their creations don’t always follow a particular pattern but when they are able to surprise us. “Picture Hanging,” the new single by Hilang Child, sounds so different from “King Quail,” and I initially didn’t even realize that this is the same artist. But when you listen closely, you can hear it, the bright and beautiful vocals and the intricate songwriting. For me, “Picture Hanging” sits somewhere between The Beatles and 2008 Panic! At The Disco with some fierce saxophone action thrown in, and the result is invigorating and utterly beautiful. As intended, the track offers a massive dose of joy, and Ed explains how this all came together:

“Picture Hanging is about the meaning and memories held within the unassuming physical objects around you. I was just trying to lift myself out of a bad mood one evening by writing something happy. There were so many little inanimate objects on my desk which carried a connection to a specific happy memory, so I decided to write about each one of them in turn. As the lyrics progressed I found myself adding bombastic, noisy, uplifting instrumental parts, reflecting the growing elation I was starting to feel in the process. It morphed away from a bouncy little piano thing into a full out heavy crashy synth-pop banger. I sent the demo to saxophonist Rittipo (Bastille, Public Service Broadcasting) who doubled up some parts and shredded a massive sax solo. I achieved exactly what I wanted to; making a positive song and singing about joyful things fully picked me back up and for the first time ever, I genuinely didn’t care whether anyone else liked what I’d written, because the process of making it in that moment brought so much joy”.

Listen to “Picture Hanging,” our Song Pick of the Day:

Connect with Hilang Child and add “Picture Hanging” to your playlist as we add it to our #glamglarepick playlist on Spotify and YouTube: