Inés Hall’s “Next to Me” Is a Breezy, Bittersweet Love Letter That Lingers Like Summer Air
Inés Hall isn’t just whispering into the indie ether anymore — she’s belting through it, radiating the kind of emotional clarity that demands to be heard with the windows rolled down and the volume cranked to eleven. Her latest single, “Next to Me,” released April 9th, 2025, channels the sun-dappled swagger of Liz Phair and the diary-confessional lyricism of Phoebe Bridgers into something equal parts aching and infectious.
There’s a deceptively simple magic to “Next to Me.” It’s a mid-tempo, four-on-the-floor groove with fat bass lines and fuzzed-out guitars that somehow feel just as appropriate for a rainy afternoon as they do for a carefree road trip.
From the jump, Hall’s voice — breathy, tender, and just slightly unspooled — slides into the track like an old friend. There’s a confidence to her delivery that recalls early Sheryl Crow, while the vulnerability tucked in her verses calls to mind Julien Baker’s intimate precision.
Lyrically, “Next to Me” floats in the liminal space between flirtation and freefall. “Does it count as long distance / As your lips are on my mind,” Hall sings, turning a cheeky come-on into something poetic, even a little existential. The way she dances around romantic proximity — physical, emotional, maybe even spiritual — is captivating. This isn’t just a crush anthem; it’s a study in emotional saturation.
And then there’s the chorus, where everything kicks into Technicolor:
“She’s got green eyes / That make you realize that / She’s the one you’ve been missing…”
It’s Hall at her most effervescent, her voice skimming over the beat with a giddy urgency that feels like falling in love and trying not to let it show — but failing spectacularly.
The track was demoed with Josh Liebman (John Batiste, Josh Groban) and later polished by Myles Rodenhouse of Earthquake Lights, before being handed off to Grammy-nominated mastering engineer Dan Millice. It shows — the production is lush but never overstuffed, letting Hall’s charisma and melodic instincts take center stage.
At 20,000 monthly Spotify listeners and a growing TikTok following, Hall is on the kind of upward trajectory that makes you want to tell your friends “I knew her when.” With “Next to Me,” she stakes her claim as one of indie folk’s brightest young voices — the kind of artist who can sit comfortably between your favorite 2000s alt-rock heroes and today’s playlist regulars.
Turn it up. Roll the windows down. Fall in love for three minutes.
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