Here is a wonderful addition to your summer soundtrack. Let It Happen, a song full of heart and positivity from Jo Bartlett and Neil Haydock, should be bursting loudly from your speakers beneath the heatwave sun. The song opens with bright, shimmering guitars that return with the uplifting, memorably tuneful chorus. Bartlett’s vocal performance is dreamily melodic and hums with vitality. Throughout, Let It Happen is suitably upbeat, matching Bartlett’s words and the subject matter: “There’s a new light dawning // The brightness of another day // It’s a brand new morning // So, let it happen // So, let it happen // This must be the right time.” The message is direct and clear; it is a summer anthem of resilience, acceptance and beginning again. Bartlett says of the song’s theme: “Let It Happen is a song about destiny and hope. If something is meant to happen, the right people appear at the right time.” Truly, this is music to raise your spirits in uncertain times.
There is a perfect merger between the brightness of the message and lyrics, the sparkling sound of the music, and the video, which intersperses light, hazy images of Bartlett playing with the landscapes of somewhere new. The Italian footage in the film was shot by BAFTA award-winning actress Juliet Aubrey.
The pair already have extensive experience in music. Neil Haydock was frontman of the band Submarine, which recorded Peel sessions for John Peel and toured with the likes of Flaming Lips and Radiohead. Bartlett released her first record at the age of 18. Performing as It’s Jo & Danny, her Lank Haired Girl to Bearded Boy album was highly acclaimed, and her songs were played heavily on Jo Whiley’s BBC Radio 1 show. Jo toured across Europe and played at Glastonbury and Reading Festivals. Bartlett was part of The Yellow Moon Band, with music used in video games and by Liam Gallagher’s Pretty Green clothing line. More recently, her 2024 solo album Ghost Tapes 1 to 9 was well received and played on BBC 6 Music.
The collaboration between Bartlett and Haydock is proving very fruitful, their skills and styles complementing one another well with the creation of warm, grooving, well-crafted songs that are immediately absorbing. Their first release as a duo was The River or the Road EP in the autumn of 2025. Let It Happen is taken from North Sixteen, Bartlett and Haydock’s first full-length album together. This well-written collection is due for release on 28th August 2026 on indie label Through The Looking Glass. Check it out; perfect for your late-summer listening.
