Manchester’s Joe Kutryk makes his long-awaited solo debut with “Rearranging”, a raw, gorgeously textured alt-folk ballad born from the fluorescent limbo of a 2 AM McDonald’s booth and the ache of long-distance love. Written after being sent home from a soul-crushing Amazon night shift, the track evolves from a personal confession into a universal meditation on the “what if” people who linger in our lives.
Recorded at Green Velvet Studios (Stockport) with producer Johnny Woodhead, the song is a masterclass in restrained beauty. Kutryk’s warm, weathered vocals—reminiscent of Richard Hawley’s smoky baritone—anchor the track, while his wife Nadia’s violin and harmonies weave a tender, lived-in intimacy. The arrangement breathes deliberately: piano traces melancholy arcs, delicate guitar lines fray at the edges, and Woodhead’s ghostly delays and echo chambers stretch the spaces between notes like the miles between lovers.
Lyrically, “Rearranging” captures the selfish ache of closeness but its genius lies in its quiet metamorphosis. What began as a romantic plea now resonates as a broader elegy for connections strained by time, distance, or circumstance.
A stunning first offering that balances folk’s storytelling tradition with alt-rock’s atmospheric depth. Kutryk doesn’t just wear his influences he digests them into something wholly his own.
