Young Guv, aka songwriter Ben Cook, has released his new track, “Take Up All My Time“. The song serves as the final single from his new double album, GUV III & IV, with the the first installment, GUV III, arriving next week, March 11th from Run For Cover Records (and Hand Drawn Dracula in Canada).
“Take Up All My Time” is the fifth single from GUV III (following “Good Time,” “Only Wanna See U Tonight,” “Lo Lo Lonely,” and “It’s Only Dancin’,” which have garnered attention from the likes of Stereogum, BrooklynVegan, Uproxx, Raven Sings The Blues, and more), demonstrating Cook’s seemingly endless supply of big hooks and chiming guitars. The new song leans towards Guv’s melancholy side but the shimmering guitar washes and longing harmonies will still put a smile on your face. It’s the kind of instantly gratifying songwriting that makes GUV III the perfect entry point for both new listeners and those already initiated into the wide world of Guv.
Cook discussed the new track saying, “I made a demo of this song really high in the middle of night when I lived in NYC, still pre-pandemic. I don’t have a clue how to play it and all the guitar tracks are in different capo positions. I’ll probably never know. When I got to the mountains in New Mexico, this was an instrumental that I always had planned to write lyrics to, but I hadn’t had the chance yet. Again, I wrote the words and recorded the vocals in the middle of the night, very high, and put it on my hard drive and never listened to it again. I knew it would be on the album because I knew I’d never write a ballad-esque, emotionally-driven high-desert-by-way-of-Brooklyn shuffle ever again. When we got to the studio in LA to record the live drums that’s all we did to it. I left all the demo tracks and all my home recorded vocals on it because I couldn’t recreate the mood–and like I said… I have no idea how to play this song. It’s about the feeling of wanting to throw yourself into someone else and completely disappear, that feeling of wanting to spend every waking moment together. I deeply fear that in this new world of intense isolation I might never feel that again.”