Some songs don’t wait around to build tension, they grab you by the collar and throw you straight into the hook. That’s the magic trick Jonny Corralitos pulls off with ‘Over Before It’s Begun’, a brisk and breezy alt-rock number that blends slacker charm with a sneaky kind of emotional weight.
Fuelled by jangling guitars and a rhythm section that hits like a second wind, the track finds its spiritual home somewhere between a worn-out cassette of ‘Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain’ and the backseat of a borrowed car with the windows down. You can almost smell the sea salt in the air. There’s a looseness to the groove, but the songwriting never drifts as Jonny keeps things anchored with sharp melodic instincts and a chorus that sinks in on the first listen.
But underneath the buoyant delivery is something more bittersweet. The track captures a fleeting connection that’s already slipping away even as it starts, a kind of emotional whiplash disguised as a singalong. “It’s over before it’s begun,” he belts, sounding oddly triumphant. It’s the kind of breakup line you shout, where the sadness doesn’t quite catch up until later.
Jonny’s guitar work deserves a nod here too as there’s real muscle in the choruses, the kind that turns wistfulness into something strangely liberating. It’s a reminder that sometimes the best way to move through the mess is to play it loud and keep driving.
With ‘Over Before It’s Begun’, Jonny Corralitos proves that even sun-drenched nostalgia can sting a little, and that the end of something might be the best part to dance to.
