1. Love Goes by Sam Smith, Labrinth
Among the many recent October releases was Sam Smith’s third album Love Goes, filled with all of the radio-bound pop songs that you’d expect of the British artist.
But shuffled in between the dance hits are a handful of songs that give pause, either because of unexpected production or the story of the lyrics. And in the case of the title track, we get both. Love Goes is the most interesting of the record’s many ballads – “intimacy blown up to cinematic scale” is how one article perfectly describes it.
Featuring alongside Smith for the duet is Labrinth, whose soulful voice perfectly makes up for the whininess of Smith’s falsetto during the chorus (this song would not have worked as a solo). Together they imbue the first three minutes with a real sense of tired ache.
And then comes the sudden shift in energy: a surprise onslaught of horns, strings, beats, synths, and vocal samples – not unsuitable for the ending of a Disney movie. It would be easy to write off this final bang as being a guitar band mess, but I love the crazed goofiness of it all. After such seriousness for three minutes, it’s a perfect ending to suddenly laugh and dance it all off. It also kind of feels like a surrendering of sorts – ‘yes love is heartbreak but I’m still full of love and love is still beautiful etc. etc. etc.!’ Only instead of using cheesy words they leave all of the corniness to the orchestra.
2. Time by Free Nationals, Mac Miller, Kali Uchis
For a funkier itch, Free Nationals’ 2019 single Time might hit the spot. Best known as the band of Anderson .Paak, the track had the group collaborate with Kali Uchis, whose vocals also bookend a rap verse by Mac Miller. The release of the song marked the first posthumous collab of the rapper after his passing in September 2018.
Time is so smooth and vibrant as the artists sing over a groovy guitar and bass-driven beat. What makes the song especially fun are all of the little instrumental quips that flutter throughout, like the silky stream of horns and strings drifting along the music.
3. Green Eyes by Joseph
Number three comes from the fourth album of Portland three-piece sister band Joseph, named in honour of their granddad Jo and the small Oregon town Joseph where he lived. (Wholesome as fuck, I know.)
Green Eyes is one of the most spectacular sing-along road trip songs I’ve ever heard. It first hypnotically draws you in with swaying verses and a smooth bassline, before crashing into a chorus commanded tremendously by the sisters’ voices. There’s so much energy conjured up by the band, demanding to be belted along to.
Joseph once described the feeling behind the song: “You’re starting to sense this person slipping away from you and you explain how it’s ok if they’re questioning, but you feel certain and you’ll be right over here waiting for them to see what you see. This person is a much more confident and grounded person... she knows what she wants and she offers it with open hands.”
4. Eagle Song by The Staves
Sticking with the theme, my last song this week comes from another band of sisters: Emily, Jessica and Camille Stavely-Taylor – known as The Staves for short. UK-born and based, the sisters have been making music as a trio since they were children, their childhood home usually filled with the sounds of classic folk heroes like The Beatles and Simon & Garfunkel.
Eagle Song is the closing track of their 2012 debut album Dead & Born & Grown, written about their tour through the U.S. with The Civil Wars. "It was all in VW Camper Vans, and we went from Austin to Boston,” they’ve described. “It was such an amazing experience. There was so much traveling...It all felt very alive."
The song’s title comes from a bald eagle they once spotted while on that tour. “We saw a lot. When you're on tour, you're just living day to day. There's a certain mood that's quite hard to describe. You're sharing it with other people, and that's very special. That's what it's about."
"A thousand miles ahead and behind / Oh to be lost, oh to be wasting my time," they thing in the opening lines, and the sheer sweetness their harmonies makes this song such a wonderful listen.
Listen on Spotify to all 'Songs of the Week' here.
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