Today was a very bad day. I don’t need to get into it here because we pride ourselves on being a source of good humor and positivity, but sometimes there are certain situations that cannot be made better. The best I can do for you today is to offer you a song that I have been leaning on as a crutch for the past few months. It won’t fix anything, but maybe it will offer a brief soothing respite from all the depressing noise.

Shura is a very talented English songwriter with a silvery voice. She generally makes very Phil Collins-esque, ’80s synth songs that focus especially on emotional topics, generally heartbreak and regret. Each of her songs has a warm pulse and a tangibly beating heart that jumps when Shura goes out on a limb and falls when she remembers rejections.

However, Canvas’s remix of her song “Touch” deconstructs the track down to its essential emotive parts. It is a spare wash of airy synths, heavy bass thrums and clipped vocals that are less an expository story and more a gradually fading memory of something that once upset you. It is sort of the sonic equivalent of the very middle of convalescence, in between a fresh wound and something that no longer bothers you. It is at once sad and optimistic, just like the idea of something getting better in the first place. It always takes time, and that requires patience, and for me specifically, good music. Hope you guys enjoy.