Nick Bellerose - The Only Way Is Through

​Nick Bellerose

The Only Way Is Through
self-released; 2025

TOP ALBUM

By Matt Jensen

The Only Way Is Through, the debut album from Nick Bellerose, plants itself firmly in the quiet soil of introspective folk, unspooling eight understated songs that linger in the air like the final traces of a memory. It’s a record that resists urgency, choosing instead to move with the solemn pace of emotional recovery. Bellerose leans into a classic singer/songwriter mode—equal parts confessional and pastoral—with arrangements that rarely stretch beyond acoustic guitar, ambient textures, and the occasional harmonica. But within that restraint, there’s a gentle power.

The opener, “Our Love Is Gone,” sets the tone with stark, echoing acoustic strums and a vocal performance that feels more like a conversation with oneself than an attempt to impress. The harmonies arrive like ghostly afterthoughts—easy to miss, but rewarding in their subtlety. It’s a song about acceptance, but not quite peace.

“I’m Going Through” follows in a similar emotional key, but lets a sliver of light in through the cracks. The lyrics still sit heavy in the chest, but there’s a forward motion here, as if searching for something just out of reach. “Hold Me” channels Lower East Side ‘60s folk with striking clarity—a harmonica-laced lament that evokes early Dylan without tipping into imitation. There’s a weathered romanticism to it, bohemian but grounded.

“Walk Like a Man” plays like a sigh from the past, and “That Night”—arguably the album’s centerpiece—wraps its melody in just the right amount of reverb, making every note feel like it’s echoing through a canyon of longing. Even the slight rhythmic pulse of “Every Time” feels like a major event in the album’s hushed emotional ecosystem. It’s not bold, but it doesn’t need to be—Bellerose’s voice and melodic instincts do most of the heavy lifting.

“Camila” returns to the album’s preferred mode of tender despondency, a quiet sketch of possible unrequited love, while “Since I Laid My Eyes On You” closes the album with a restrained touch of keys, offering a muted sense of closure.

The Only Way Is Through rarely shifts gear, but that’s part of its quiet conviction. It stays planted in a singular emotional frequency, content to whisper rather than shout. You won’t blast this album at a party or take it on a run, but when the world gets too loud, it’s the kind of record that knows how to sit with you in the silence.

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