Christ and The Machines is the new project of songwriter Christian Licursi, whose work has received support from BBC Radio 1 and BBC Introducing. The project explores the uneasy space where faith, technology and human emotion overlap, but “To Live Unaffected” feels less interested in technology than in something much older and more human. It is about finding a reason to keep going when life suddenly becomes unbearable.
The song was born during a devastating period for Licursi. Within days, his brother nearly died following a medical emergency, and soon after his recovery, Licursi learned that a friend had died by suicide. Overwhelmed, he found himself sitting beside a road, where a much quieter scene caught his attention: flowers pushing through cracks in the pavement and reaching toward a nearby woodland. That tiny act of persistence became the emotional seed of the song.
Musically, “To Live Unaffected” mirrors that sense of fragile resilience. It opens gently, with calm strings floating over slow, low-rumbling beats while Licursi sings with a relaxed steadiness. The track gradually gathers weight. The beats become fuller, backing vocals begin to soar, and Licursi’s voice grows increasingly passionate as he reaches upward. Above it all, the immersive soundscape seems to carry an almost angelic halo, giving the track a warmth that feels spiritual.
The song’s central image, life finding a way through pavement, becomes a powerful metaphor for hope itself. Its message is not that darkness simply disappears, but that something living can still emerge from it. The melody itself reportedly began forming in a vivid dream that same night, and there is something dreamlike about the finished recording.
At the end of the day, “To Live Unaffected” is a song about surviving the moments that make hope feel impossible, and noticing that, somehow, something is still growing.
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Review by: Naomi Joan