In a time when headlines and interactions lean heavy with division and uncertainty, The Bergamot have released something that feels almost radical: an album centered on hope.
“Give Love Away“, the award-winning indie-folk duo’s newest album, is, to put it bluntly, the musical statement we need right now. Co-produced alongside Matt Wiggins (Glass Animals, Adele, Coldplay) and recorded with the Notre Dame Children’s Choir, the record blends the intimacy of folk storytelling with the grandeur of orchestral and choral performance. The result is music that manages to feel both deeply personal and universally expansive, a soundtrack for personal resilience in a fractured, scary world.
For Nathaniel Paul and Jillian Speece, the husband-and-wife team behind The Bergamot, “Give Love Away” is less an album than a vision. “This album is about imagining a brighter tomorrow,” Paul shares. His words cut straight to the heart of what makes this project remarkable: an insistence on choosing light over shadow and positivity over despair.
Speece mirrors that conviction, pointing to the transcendent power of music itself. When the Notre Dame Children’s Choir first joined their voices with the duo’s, she says that “something transcendent happened. Their voices remind me why we create in the first place — to give hope, to inspire, to connect.”
That word (hope) resonates across every track. From the ethereal “Beauty That We See” to the cinematic title song, Give Love Away insists that love is not naïve or performative, but essential. It is resistance against hate. It is resilience against fear. It is a vision for the future made audible, in which The Bergamot remind us that music is still one of the few places where healing feels possible. We sat down with them to learn more. Take a listen to the record and learn a bit more about how music can be one of the best mechanisms we have to create hope.
First, why did you choose to collaborate with the Notre Dame Children’s Choir? What were you hoping they’d bring to this record, and what was the collaboration process like?
Great question. Our friend Dr. Mark Doerries approached us after a performance last winter with the idea of making a record with the Notre Dame Children’s Choir. At first, I wasn’t sure what to think – was there even any precedent for this? My first dive brought me to Pink Floyd’s Another Brick in the Wall, Part 2, one of my all-time favorite songs. That sealed it. A children’s choir on a record can be unbelievably powerful. While our message is very different, that spark of inspiration made us say: let’s go for it.
This project pushes the boundaries of alt-folk/Americana and challenged us to write with a choir in mind. As David Byrne notes in How Music Works, artists often write for the space they’ll be performing in, imagining the instruments and the audience. For us, “Pray” is the opus of this record, and performing it in the University of Notre Dame’s DeBartolo Performing Arts Center’s Leighton Concert Hall is the dream. On September 19, 2025, that dream will become reality with the world premiere of this album.
You’ve described the album as “about imagining a brighter tomorrow.” How do you see music as a tool for building that vision in a world that feels fractured, and where do you fit into that?
We’re living through incredibly difficult times. Just days ago, I read about another school shooting. As someone in my 30s, I struggle with the reality we’re in now—and I can’t imagine being a kid growing up through it. The idea of making a record to lift up young people felt powerful, but actually working with them, hearing their united voices fill that space – it changed me. Collaborating with some of the best in the world, like Matt Wiggins and Frank McKearn IV, and recording in the breathtaking acoustics of the DeBartolo Performing Arts Center was truly magical.
When listeners hear this record with the children’s voices, I believe it will be deeply moving and inspiring. Music has the power to transcend words, and this album makes me believe in a brighter tomorrow. For that alone, I’m profoundly grateful – to bring this music into the world as a light in one of humanity’s darkest hours.
How did you balance personal storytelling with the grandeur of orchestral folk and choral harmonies?
Tension and release. Grandeur and minimalism. We walked that tightrope, using every musical palette to create a sound that feels both collective and expansive. It’s a “Wall of Harmony”, our take on the “Wall of Sound.” To me, every album, like all art, needs a personal thread woven through it. From “March Leaves,” which explores the cycles of life and death, to “Pray,” which dives into struggle and despair, to “Everyday Champions,” inspired by the phrase Play Like a Champion Today (a phrase regularly used by the Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team) – each song connects our stories to the bigger themes that unite us all.
Lyrically and musically, I found ways to weave the best of what each element offered. Everyone has a moment on this album. It feels almost like a vision of the future: everyone plays their part, power is relative, and when it’s our moment to shine, we rise – and when it’s someone else’s, we show up to support. That sense of community is something the world has deeply lost, and this record is our way of bringing it back.
Were there particular sounds, instruments, arrangements, or other techniques you chose specifically because they carry an uplifting, hopeful quality?
I’m always drawn first to key signatures and tempos. Naturally, I leaned toward major keys, but the songs in minor—“Pray” and “March Leaves”—really stood out. Like Gregorian chants, those simple yet profound harmonies carry such weight in melancholy songs, and in the minor keys they had a particular glisten and power. That said, I had the most fun working with the kids on songs with real energy and lift.
Instrumentally, I focused on the acoustic elements I played and wanted to highlight them. In a time when AI is flattening much of the music landscape, capturing raw, deeply human moments felt vital. More than anything, I wanted this album to create space for genuine human connection.
How has your personal journey, both as artists and as individuals, shaped your belief in music as a force for hope and resilience?
Bob Marley has always been a huge inspiration to me. His lyrics were so profound that I can’t count how many times I’ve looked up references in his songs just to understand them better. That’s the perfect example of what music can be—a gateway into the unknown, both educational and entertaining. I hope this record does the same: sending people on little journeys, whether it’s discovering what a March Leaf is or exploring the beauty of the natural world and growing up in “Beauty That We See.”
In what way do you hope this album contributes to larger cultural conversations about compassion, unity, and vision?
“Why sell a man a gun when you can lend him a hand?” Why chase profits while ignoring the true cost of what’s happening around us? In today’s world, not enough people even stop to ask someone at the grocery store how they’re doing. The problem with our culture is the culture itself. I hope this record can shift perspectives and spark questions about how we arrived here. As we said in our film State of the Unity: the people are not the problem—the problem is the problem.
Unity isn’t homogeny. Unity is holding space for others, even when you disagree. Music can create that safe space. We have a lot of work to do as a society, but it starts with us—one note at a time, one song at a time. That’s what I can give the world as a musician, and I owe it my very best.
Lastly, what impact do you hope “Give Love Away” has on your listeners?
A profound sense of hope, that’s what this record is about. I believe we can achieve greatness when we work together, and if nothing else, that message can help spark more good in the world. For me, that’s the heart of this project, and Jillian and I are deeply grateful for the opportunity to share it.
Stream “Give Love Away” here.
The post How The Bergamot Dare to Hope on Newest Album “Give Love Away” appeared first on Magnetic Magazine.