1. Are You Even Real? By James Blake
James Blake did not disappoint with his latest single last month, Are You Even Real?. True to his somewhat genre-less style, the song is a mix of ballad-like keys, trippy electronic edits, catchy R&B and occasionally some seriously melancholic strings. Blake has a voice that immediately infuses his songs with an ethereal aesthetic, and the layering effects on his vocals here make it feel genuinely trippy, as if in a dream-like state.
I love how confusing the song’s energy is. On the one hand, it’s a beautiful love song --- or maybe just one of infatuation, with the singer so completely in awe over the object of his attention (“Are you even real?”). But Blake also throws you for a loop by bringing in such a haunting sadness through elements like the unsettling strings or outlandish synth sounds here and there. That mysterious veil over the song (probably fully understood only by Blake) makes it so alluring.
2. Die Young (Echo Mountain Sessions) by Sylvan Esso
Typically only a duo (singer Amelia Meath and producer Nick Sanborn), Sylvan Esso decided to bring in a few fellow artists for a special collaboration during the summer of 2017. Together with members of Hiss Golden Messenger, Wye Oak, The Mountain Goats, Mountain Man and Megafaun, the artists headed to the Echo Mountain studios in North Carolina for a few days to record new versions of some of Sylvan Esso's most well-known tracks – including one of their best, Die Young.
Sanborn has described that through this project “the songs breathe in a totally different way. [They’re] reflected back at us by friends in our community. It just reminded us what [the songs] were.” I can attest: the Echo Mountain version of Die Young hits very differently than the original. Veered away from its electronic origin, the artists replace most of the synthesized sounds with real harmonies, piano, electronic guitar, saxophone and more.
While I love what electronic artists do, I have an unbreakable bias for ‘real’ instrumentation, so this version is right up my alley. Not to discredit the original though: it’s really the songwriting of Die Young that I'm so fascinated by. The lyrics are beautiful but profoundly sad; it's a very unconventional love song.
3. Bird by Bedouine
I haven't had time to write properly about Bedouine's second album Birdsongs of a Killjoy since my review of her first, but I've been listening to it constantly so let's look at a new favourite.
As you might guess from the album's title, it's flooded with references to birds: in some songs, Bedouine sings about herself as a bird longing to be set free; in others, she sings instead of restless lovers who she is afraid of holding back. In One More Time she wonders, “Am I to you some sort of chain / Are you a bird, am I your cage?”, and in Bird, we find her mulling over the same thought –
Bird, if your wings have gone clipped
as I pressed myself to your lips
I’ll release you
with what is left of your wings
I will leave you to sing
Bedouine has described that the song is “about loving someone so much that you’re willing to loosen your grip on them. It was written as a love letter with the intent of delivering it. It's one of my favourite memories regarding the power of song. I had so much to communicate and this was the only way I was able to get it all down.”
Adding in soft horns, strings and flutes to contour her words, Bedouine’s gentle vocals still shine through. Another perfect piece of orchestral folk.
4. Took a While by NEIL FRANCES
NEIL FRANCES has a sound that’s hard to hate, both groovy and incredibly calming. For this week I’m closing off with my most-loved of the LA-based duo’s releases to date: Took a While, the closing title track of their 2018 debut EP.
With playful lyrics comparing love to a game (a very original, never-before-done metaphor), it’s the track’s soft beat and super infectious melody that make it both great background music and a perfectly breezy vibe for a sunny afternoon.
Give it a chance to get stuck in your head; it’ll only take a few listens.
Listen on Spotify to all 'Songs of the Week' here.
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