Comparing and despairing, Northern Irish songwriter JC Stewart mourns over a lost love in the truly anthemic single ‘Like I Did’. From the start, this track is simply resplendent, dramatic and tempestuous, drawing parallel to Stewart’s racing emotions. It begins with soft strings and the artist’s subtly-accented croon, via which we’re gently pulled into the broken-hearted character’s perspective. Where you really feel his emotional pain is is that chorus, which leaps out of the speakers with emphatic guitar playing, bold percussion and JC Stewart’s undeniable vocal power, which he puts to full use for the lines, “So don’t say, he could ever love you like I love you, like I did / Don’t say he could ever treat you better, better than I did / He doesn’t know your aching heart, know your battle scars like I do / don’t say he could ever love you like I love you, like I did.” His words switch between the past and present, portraying how our protagonist is torn between his version of the past and the fact that he’s moving on. Thus, that moment of clarity is found at last in the song’s closing chorus. It’s truly stunning how in just three minutes and thirty-seven seconds, JC Stewart manages to convey this deeply emotional journey from embittered ego-centrism to mature acceptance, and it’s one that’ll have you close to tears by the end. Naturally, Stewart has shared his own experience of writing this compelling song, as he goes on to explain: “I wrote 'Like I Did' about a situation one of my friends was in where he had some news that nobody wanted to hear. He was angry and frustrated, and we wrote this song about the situation. It’s a really special song to me because the lyrics aren’t trying to be fancy, it’s simply what he said to me put into song form. I’m incredibly excited to have it out into the world!” Without further ado, we’re proud to premiere JC Stewart’s ‘Like I Did’ here at The Most Radicalist. - Hannah Thacker