“Set Me Free” by Jack Horton arrives with clarity, purpose, and emotional honesty. The lead single for his new EP, “Imperfections,” is a deeply personal but universally moving track that proves that sometimes the most powerful songs are born out of the hardest goodbyes.
After a quietly impressive return to music with his first EP earlier this year, Horton opens this new five-track collection with a tender piano ballad that doubles as a turning point in his life. “Set Me Free” is the result of change, which Horton attributes to the collapse of his marriage.
The song itself is lush but unassuming, backed by Horton’s expressive piano playing. It is clearly polished by years of studying the classics but softened by the openness he imbues in each chord. His voice is raw, earnest, and unflagging, and it feels as though he is composing the lyrics on the spot across from you. There’s no frenzy, no artifice, just the simple realization that sometimes, loving someone is a matter of knowing when to let go.
Horton’s songwriting takes center stage here, sprinkling narrative and feeling equal. “Set Me Free” also establishes the tone for the rest of “Imperfections,” an EP issued one track at a time over five months. This smart, deliberate release strategy lets each song breathe, land, and be felt independently.
For a man who ditched the piano bars for law tomes, tech startups, and boardrooms, Jack Horton’s escape back to songwriting is commendable, but it is also right now. And with “Set Me Free,” he lets us know Imperfections are chapters in a tale that’s still unfinished.
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