Vancouver singer-songwriter Todd Kowaluk has been working on his unique brand of indie folk for a  number of years, using 90s-influenced indie rock and pop with a higher message since his debut EP Love Can Set Us Free.

He returns with his brand-new single ‘Enough Is Enough’. A track which he credits a significant degree of importance. For him, it represents a milestone in his life, musically, spiritually and career-wise.  He had the catchy, Paul Westerberg-esque indie pop guitar riff back in the days of Love Can Set Us Free, but set it aside for when he cracked the conceptual code of the old adage ‘enough is enough’.

‘Enough Is Enough’ is a protest song with a storyteller’s perspective. It starts with that fatalistic phrase and turns it into a question and a call for people to be honest with their hearts, with each other, and with, well, infinity. If love can set us free why constantly test it with boundaries? The pondering of all these questions is set within the backward (chorus first) structure of the song and Kowaluk’s personal experience with his own questioning nature.

“For me, as a songwriter, the question I kept going back to was ‘how does this song end’? That questioning made me want to evolve the song somehow, Find a brighter ending, Hope for a new beginning, a higher version of myself. I wanted to be a better human being somehow and hopefully in the process a better songwriter.”

“There’s really not much traditional about this song, it starts with a chorus, and generally, songs don’t start with a chorus, It questions the rules and at the same time asks what is important about being human in this ever-changing world of ours. It’s a protest song.”

The track’s opening is a straightforward yet catchy acoustic guitar that combines elements of rock and pop with indie-folk flavor. A syncopated cadence is infused into the song by the kick-drum-driven beat, which enhances the vibrant auditory representation and overall feel.

Todd Kowaluk‘s vocals, which range from powerful savors to low-pitched, delicate timbres,  are replete with a profoundly philosophical message about life in general and music in particular.

“People have asked me what motivates me to write and record music and I say I would like to have more of a voice in the world… and yet what I am discovering is that it has been more about finding my  own voice and than using it to express what is important to me.”

Todd Kowaluk was lucky enough to gain favor and assistance from local Vancouver electronic music icon Dave King of longwalkshortdock for the production of ‘Enough Is Enough’. He credits Dave for gifting him with a timeline, which in turn gave him the motivation and push he needed to finish writing the song and take these next big yet delicate steps forward in his career.

Although he admits that he didn’t know where he was “going with this song” in the first verse,  Todd Kowaluk’s years of stumbling in the dark searching for the right keys and lyrics with which to express his ceaseless yearning have delivered this captivating, complete work. It’s clear that even if he has not found the answers to all his questions, he has enticed others to ask these same questions with him,  And in so doing…  He has finally found his voice.