[NEW SINGLE AND MV] GOOD AS GOLD — ESKY

‘It’s good as gold.’ (Image Credit: Henry Escandor @henryesc)

A man in the midst of packing his bedroom finds a remnant of his childhood past - a cute, handcrafted figurine, made of cardboard toilet roll, googly eyes, and a red-striped straw. A blast to the past, the man walks down memory lane as he fondly remembers himself constructing the figurine as a young boy. Peeking through the toilet roll, we see a message written in fine print - I like you a lot.

Set to poppy percussions and summery synths, Good as Gold is the latest track from The Western’s own Esky. Produced by Korky Buchek, the two have previously worked together to produce the disco-inspired track Into We (ft. Bread Club). In this latest release, Esky raps and croons about a romance in retrospect with the help from Western Sydney’s golden gals, Chrissy Mae Valentine and Gemma Navarrete.

In the midst of lush guitar chords (a subtle nod to Gorillaz’s Feel Good Inc.), Esky remains grounded and wise in his lyricism. He opens the track with a humble tribute to his kapamilya (family), acknowledging the life lessons best learnt through loved ones: ’I gotta thank my Lola, she a gangsta / my older brother and my momma be my anchors.’ As we dive deep into the colourful, funky cascade of synths and keys, Esky shares to us more of his wisdom as he talks about the way past and present heartbreaks shape us for the greater good. ‘I gotta thank my ex for the past eight years, for giving me the past eight years.’ By the time the pre-chorus hits, it preaches us a life lesson - ‘Nothing stays gold, nothing stays golden / but for now, it’s good as gold.’

Young Esky, played by Ethan Escandor (Image credit: Cineverse @cineverse)

By the latter half of the song, Esky - like a true motivational speaker - uplifts us with sage advice - ‘Follow your heart, don’t be who you hardly are / protect it when you keep it movin’ like an armoured car.’ Esky teaches us in song the importance of outgrowing the past for your own personal empowerment. The swooning guitar chords return, popping in and out of the track up to keep our ears perked up during Esky’s words of wisdom, up until the outro. ‘The whole world is full of love,’ the vocals echo ‘and it’s in love with you.’

‘The whole world is full of love.’(Image credit: Cineverse @cineverse)

Matching the funkadelic track is a music video directed by Victor Tran of Loft Bed Studios, who’s no stranger to working with Esky. The two have worked together previously in the 2019 short film Chocolate and Coffee . Warm, golden tones waft through every frame of this video, as we watch a young, love-smitten Esky (played by his nephew, Ethan Escandor) impress his neighbourhood crush (played by Zopiah Sulangi) with the power of grade-school arts and craft. A sweet tale of childhood romance, the storyline was initially a short film under the title Paper Boy. But, using Esky’s words, the music video is ‘as good as gold.’

A wholesome lockdown jam, Good as Gold is available to stream on Spotify. The music video is available to watch on YouTube via the Cineverse channel.