I heard It Is What It Is the other day on my music player, and its easy, hip groove clicked with me. There’s a breezy looseness to it – a kind of pleasurable, unhurried sway – and the guitar work even pulls me back to that sun-lit Go-Go’s Vacation vibe, or at times a whirly, melodic touch you’d hear on a Smiths record.
I first learnt about this song – from Jeff’s blog at Eclectic Music Lover where he wrote about it:
The album contains nine wonderful tracks, starting with “It Is What It Is“, which was also released as the first single. The song has a fun, bouncy vibe, highlighted by Darksoft’s beautiful jangly guitar notes and breathy vocals singing the cliche lyrics he alluded to above: “Say what you will. When you know you just know. All’s well that ends well. What goes around comes around.” The charming video for the song, showing him barefoot and dressed all in white, doing a simple dance move in front of empty, nondescript office parks around Portland, Maine, was filmed on VHS recording equipment, giving it a vintage lo-fi quality.
Below is a summary of Jeff’s article about the artist and album :
Darksoft is the solo project of a multi-instrumentalist songwriter and producer – first name Bill (originally from Seattle, now based in Portland, Maine) who crafts lush, introspective music by weaving together dreamy pop, shoegaze, and alternative-rock textures. In Beigeification– his 2023 album released on Look Up Records – Darksoft channels a kind of “postmodern dose of beigey moods and pastel phrases” to reflect the disillusionment of our times. Across nine tracks, he leans into thought-terminating clichés (“it is what it is,” “you gotta do what you gotta do,” “win some lose some,” etc.) as lyrical anchors, layering them over simple yet evocative chord progressions, reverb-soaked guitars, soft synths, and his velvety, ethereal vocals. The result is both comforting and wistful – an album that feels like a daydream in beige, quietly profound without demanding too much.
“The more I live, the more I learn. The more I learn, the more I realize, the less I know.”- Michel Legrand
Observation Blogger 
Thanks for the mention and sharing this, Matt.
It was a pleasant surprise when the song came on the other day and I thought I really should present it here. Thanks for uncovering it for the rest of us.
“It Is What It Is” is great. Looks like I missed Jeff’s post back in January 2023, so thanks for featuring the song as well. I really like the jangly guitar sound, as well as the overall laid back feel.
Jeff’s music from indie or new artists has featured here quite often. He exposes some really good stuff.
Like this…