William Locks’ new single, If I Could Say, is a strikingly intimate release that pulls listeners straight into the heart of unresolved memory. Originating from Rotterdam’s vibrant music scene, Locks—known in daily life as songwriter Willem van der Sluijs—channels the weight of personal history into a piece that feels less like a song and more like an unfiltered confession. Inspired by the loss of his ex-girlfriend in a tragic accident years ago, the track reflects on regret, growth, and the words he never got to speak. It’s the culmination of years of emotional reckoning, shaped by a realization that some apologies can only be delivered to the air.
Recorded not in a professional studio but in his own living room—mattresses against walls, curtains draped everywhere—If I Could Say carries a rawness rarely captured in contemporary singles. That DIY setting becomes part of the song’s emotional architecture, allowing Locks’ trembling vocals and fragile guitar lines to resonate with unshielded honesty. You can feel the room around him, hear the vulnerability in each breath, and sense the courage it took to finally share a story that had lived quietly inside him for so long. This stripped-back approach amplifies the weight of the lyrics, turning a simple arrangement into something quietly devastating.
What makes this release truly stand out is its universality. While born from deeply personal grief, the song speaks to anyone who’s carried regret or longed for closure. Locks hopes listeners who recognize the feeling will find peace in it, just as releasing it brought him his own. With a sound anchored in authenticity and a message distilled from lived experience, If I Could Say positions William Locks as an artist capable of transforming private sorrow into shared solace. As he poignantly reminds us, “Tomorrow is not a certainty. Make peace before you go to sleep.”
English