Ron-Ian Cottam’s return to music arrives through a song about departure. “Far Away”, written by Billy Marlowe and released in collaboration with Hotdog4theMoon, marks a new chapter for an artist who had previously stepped away from playing.
Cottam was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease, a period that led him to put music on hold for a time. His return has been connected with playing alongside his friend and fellow musician Stéphane De Schryver, and “Far Away” carries the feeling of an artist finding his way back to something that still matters.
The song itself is built around a relationship that has reached its limit. It’s from the point of view of someone who has spent too long following someone else’s direction and now wants to move beyond the situation. The chorus, “I’m going away, far, far away”, turns that desire into the track’s defining statement.
There is a fitting connection between the song’s subject and Cottam’s own story, though the release does not present them as identical experiences. In both cases, the emphasis is on taking the next step rather than remaining fixed in an earlier chapter.
The lyric “I don’t care, I’ll go anywhere” gives the song an open-ended quality. It is less concerned with naming a final destination than with making departure possible. The reference to the morning tide adds to that sense of onward motion, giving the track a setting that feels both tangible and symbolic.
What makes “Far Away” an interesting choice for Cottam’s return is its lack of hesitation. The song does not present leaving as a distant possibility. It treats it as an action already underway. That gives the release a sense of purpose without turning it into a grand statement about overcoming adversity.
Instead, Cottam returns with a song that can stand on its own terms. It is about recognising when a situation has run its course, finding the nerve to step outside it, and allowing the next stage to remain unwritten.
“Far Away” therefore works as both a new release and a meaningful point of re-entry. It introduces Cottam through a song that looks ahead, while leaving enough space for listeners to attach their own reasons for wanting to get away.
