The soft power of an 80s anthem
There’s a quiet confidence running through Just Around The Corner. A sort of melodic assurance that never wants attention but always commands it, The Corner The track starts with that liquid keyboard motif, warm and elusive, the type that seems to rise from a late-night boulevard soaked in orange streetlight. Anna LaCazio’s voice slips in with a velvet precision, never dramatic, always anchored, delivering each line like it’s been whispered across decades. Like someone walking slowly through their ideas, the beat steadily traces a gentle yet deliberate path.
Led by Peter Kingsbery, Cock Robin always lived on the margins of the norm without ever giving up their eye for detail. The band found a type of second home in the mid-80s, when Europe welcomed their introspective pop more readily than their native country ever did. Carried by that skillfully created piece bearing Don Gehman’s signature, yes, the same man who carved Mellencamp’s heartland rock, Just Around The Corner became an FM standard in France and Germany. Gehman allowed the song to breathe and never overloaded the band, giving them a delicate depth.
The emotional geometry of the song, every instrument is positioned with the precision of an architect creating a peaceful haven, is what makes it so amazing. The synths shine, the guitars murmur just about, and a sense of suspended time hangs somewhere in the mix. Because it never really belonged to a particular year, this is a song that never ages. Cock Robin played it with caution in 1987 when overproduction was commonplace. No bombast, need to not yell. Simply just clarity.
Darkly ominous, brooding, yet hopeful, a brilliant cut with a highly original sound, with the Call and Prefab Sprout possible reference points.
(Cash Box, 1987)
The song has the kind of romantic melancholy that does not sink into sorrow. Here is yearning, but it walks straight, chin lifted, even when the eyes are a little glossy. Never overplay it; they just live the emotion, like two shadows smoking by the window, quiet but experiencing everything. Not a team in the traditional sense, their dynamic was always unique; they were always having dialogue.
Just Around The Corner is among those rare breed of tunes you never grow tired of since it never asks anything. It strolls next to you, not in front. It knew something about the late 80s that other songs forgot: that closeness might be strong and that elegance had its own volume. And long after its run on the charts, it remains precisely where it started: in the shadows of light, silently unforgettable.
