Calum Foad

Calum Foad strives for feelgood pop on latest release ‘Hope’.

Readers might remember the Reading singer from his radio friendly rocker You & I back in 2017, or a performance on the British institution This Morning. Past singles like Rollercoaster sit firmly in the Peppy easy listening category.

Latest single ‘Hope’ follows down a similar path as lyrics talk of staying strong and that “hope is all that I need”.

To the credit of Foad and producer Nate Merchant [Jason Derulo] the song sounds like something off of a movie soundtrack. The kind of movie that sees the hero down on their luck with nowhere to turn, before rallying to fight those inner demons and triumphantly seize the day.

‘Hope’ slowly builds from a simple piano melody, before gradually layering on, chimes, violins, and synthesizers. The latter serves to energize proceedings by seeming to build towards an inevitable crescendo.
The artist’s echoey vocal presentation helps to lend the track a sense of occasion, whilst making everything feel just that little bit bigger and bolder. As thudding drums eventually arrive on the scene, it’s clear the song has succeeded in grabbing the listener’s attention and triggering those happy endorphins.

The Lyrics have a simple worldwide appeal, while strong vocals help to sell the singer’s determination,also helping to fuel the single’s small musical peak.

As more and more instruments are added to the mix during the three-minute track, it feels at points as if things are building to a big climax. However, as the drums finally come in the song levels off.

Although, the decision not to go for a bigger musical high ultimately doesn’t harm the track, it would’ve been interesting to see where things could have gone had they been shifted up another gear.


Overall, ‘Hope’ is well-crafted pop that is designed successfully to lift spirits and connect with it's audience.