Singled Out: Salim Nourallah's About Us

Salim Nourallah just released his new album "Close as a Star" and to celebrate we asked him to tell us about the song, "About Us." Here is the story: I started "About Us" more than 20 years ago. It sat untouched, and I didn't think much about it. It was just another of countless ideas that I'd abandoned. I had tons of them: lyrics scrawled on scraps of paper, 30-second snippets of mumbled melodies on old cassettes, a cappella verses, and proposed drumbeats played with chopsticks.

In February 2023, I came across a rough sketch of the song on a CD of demos that had been transferred from a cassette. I had been waiting to preview that particular CD for at least a decade. I'd finally gotten to it because I was in the middle of a project I'd called Rescued from Oblivion. I was on a mission to go back to songs I had left unfinished, troll for the best ideas, and finally complete them.

It was easy to see why the guy I used to be abandoned "About Us." The subject matter would have been troubling for anyone only a few years into a marriage. Twenty years on, I was struck by the bouncy melody and the nice middle eight. It soared. There were also no longer any possible repercussions for the subject matter. So "About Us" became one of the ideas I deemed worthy of finally completing.

When I traveled to Nashville in January 2024 to record with Billy Harvey, this was one of the songs I brought with me. The recording came together fairly quickly. Billy played the "placeholder" keys part (that we never replaced), and the two of us built the track from the ground up. We also both noted that many "modern" songs don't usually bop along like this one does. It had a rhythm more often found in songs from the 1960s.

I've found myself in the situation its lyrics describe more than once: that moment when a relationship hits a crossroads, forcing a decision on whether to leave or stay. I've usually been the one who wants to work things out, probably because I've listened to one too many Paul McCartney songs.

Ultimately, finishing "About Us" so many years after it started makes total sense to me. I needed the perspective time and distance gave me.

Hearing is believing. Now that you know the story behind the song, listen and watch for yourself below and learn more here

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