James Ollier finds light in transience with new single 'For a Moment or a While'

On his latest single, London singer-songwriter James Ollier crafts a meditation on time’s shifting weight. 'For a Moment or a While' is about surrender, tracing the push and pull between feeling stuck and the gentle relief of letting go. It’s a song built from quiet resilience, where the glow of a new morning is enough to soften what felt unbearable only hours before.

Ollier’s delivery is unhurried and deeply human, sitting somewhere between melancholy and release. His voice, paired with understated guitar and piano, feels like it’s reaching for stillness even as it acknowledges the turbulence beneath. The arrangement, co-shaped with Brett Shaw at Peckham’s 123 Studios, leans into restraint as drums and bass ebb in at just the right moments, adding gravity without overwhelming the intimacy at the song’s core.

What makes the track truly resonate is its perspective. Ollier captures how experiences can feel endless in the moment, only to shrink in hindsight into something fleeting. That sense of impermanence, framed as quiet liberation, gives the track its warmth.

As the title piece of his upcoming EP, 'For a Moment or a While' sets the stage for a collection that promises reflection without heaviness. It’s the sound of an artist learning to frame hardship as passage, delivering moments that linger, then eventually dissolve into memory.