After spending 2019 firmly establishing himself with a string of singles and live shows around the UK and the Channel Islands, including a very well received performance at BBC Music Introducing Live in November, Monty Taft is back with his first new single of 2020, Sacrifice.

From the off it’s a return to the driving, full band sound heard on last year’s Long River but with an even more direct and head nod inducing feel.

Even with the electric band sound in full effect Taft’s acoustic, singer-songwriter basis is still evident while his speak singing style in the verses really highlights its honesty.

A level of angst is also nicely evident but comes with an ultimately positive and uplifting feel that I could see going down a storm in summer festival season (if we get one this year).

At two and a half minutes its duration is cut to the bone, and it’s all the better for it, while the production has a spot on pop sound which just helps highlight the raw content.

Sacrifice then deserves to receive huge radio play in this form (though I realise it will need to be censored slightly for that to happen) but if we could get the tracks from artists of a similar bent who top the charts sounding anywhere near this good the state of pop would be in a much more engaging and enjoyable place.