LIFE LATELY
There are days when you would quite like someone to tell you that everything is going to be alright.
And then there are days when you know that probably isn't going to happen.
Life Lately starts there.
“I just wanna be loved.”
“I just wanna be seen.”
It is almost disarmingly simple.
Which is probably why it works.
Tizaan Alphonso wrote the song during a difficult period. There was loneliness in it. Frustration. Self-doubt. That tired feeling you get when you have spent too long trying to figure yourself out and still haven't quite managed it.
Most of us know the feeling.
We just don't always put it into a song.
Life Lately does.
The interesting thing is what happens after that.
“You’re worth more than you seem.”
There is a little turn.
You can almost hear him talking himself through it.
And then, towards the end:
“Don’t give up on your life.”
“Just look up into the sky.”
The stars.
A very old idea.
Look up. Get some perspective. Remember that your problems, however large they feel at the time, are taking place on one fairly small planet.
Sometimes an old idea is an old idea because it still works.
Musically, the song follows that same movement.
It begins from a place of uncertainty and gradually opens up. Keyboard and organ sit underneath the song, with guitar, bass and drums giving it a proper pulse. Trumpet and flugelhorn add another layer, while the backing vocals make the whole thing feel a little less solitary.
That matters.
Because Life Lately is about being alone without sounding completely alone.
There is soul in it. Pop too. And you can hear some of the wider musical world Tizaan has been working in for years.
The Maastricht-based pianist, singer and composer released his debut album Feel It in 2020, moving through jazz, fusion and R&B. His 2024 EP Take It or Leave It went further into funk and soul, with songs about love, struggle, hope and self-acceptance.
Since then, his Tizaan Alphonso Collective has taken him to stages including North Sea Jazz and ParkCity Live. He has also shared the stage with Candy Dulfer twice. In 2024 they even opened for Nile Rodgers.
All of that tells you something about where he comes from.
Life Lately tells you more about where he is now.
And that is the part I find interesting.
The song isn't really asking for an answer.
It is asking a question most people have asked themselves at some point.
Am I enough?
Do I matter?
Will this actually get better?
Sometimes there is no clever answer.
Sometimes you go for a walk.
Sometimes you put a record on.
Sometimes you look at the sky.
And occasionally, if you're lucky, you write a song about it.
Life Lately is the title track of Tizaan's forthcoming EP, planned for early 2027.
For now, the song is enough.
It starts with wanting to be loved.
It ends by telling you not to give up.
I'll take that.