First ever SotW!! Exciting. I'm hoping these weekly posts will keep me somewhat disciplined with regular blogging, but let's see how long this lasts, yeah?
Every Monday I'll take a look at four random songs that have been on my rotation during the week preceding --- maybe new releases, maybe old classics that I'm hearing for the first time because I still live under a rock when it comes to most music pre-2016 (i.e. pre-Spotify for me).
But I'm trying to learn, so here's hoping these posts also somehow get more 'informed' over time. Here goes!
1. Slow Up by Jacob Banks
Of course I have to start with some crème de la crème, and Slow Up seems fitting.
Jacob Banks’ mammoth of a voice sings pure poetry in this one, with an almost-spiritual tone that he sets right from the opening line --- “What I’ve learned from the ocean / how to dance and rejoice in the motion / let the sun have its moment / the moon will come”. Each of the song's stanzas of wisdom-infused gratitude hits just as hard. You almost want to pause after each one to sit and reflect for a moment --- but thankfully the song moves slowly enough for you to fully absorb it.
Banks’ soul-filled vocals are epically on full display, with nothing but faded church-like synths backing him for the first 3 minutes before the final heavy beat gets introduced. Would recommend listening alone, headphones in sans distractions --- and for a visual, his live performance below is phenomenal:
2. Two Fish and an Elephant by Khruangbin
Upon multiple recommendations I've finally been exploring Khruangbin's music over the past few months. There's such a funky and soulful sound to all of their songs (from what I've heard so far --- they have quite a discography), and Two Fish and an Elephant has been a perfect example that I can't get enough of this week.
It’s one of the trio’s best-loved songs from their 2015 album The Universe Smiles Upon You (hell of an album title too, I know) and it's easy to see why: the guitar melody floating along is so compelling, and combined with the tune and falsetto vocals “ah”-ing upwards in the background, the song has such an ethereal quality to it.
It can be whatever you want it to be – sad, nostalgic, happy, breezy, uplifting, mellow – but above all it's just a really lovely track.
3. Master & A Hound by Gregory Alan Isakov (and the Colorado Symphony)
I have yet to hear a single Gregory Alan Isakov song that I don't love for some reason or another --- usually one of three things (and more often than not, all three): the grip of his voice, a few compelling lines, or a memorable melody. I think he's one of the most talented American songwriters of our days (I feel the need to add 'American' to such general statements because I need to remind myself how little of the world's music I actually expose myself to).
Master & A Hound originally appears in his 2009 album This Empty Northern Hemisphere, but was masterfully reworked in his 2016 collab with the Colorado symphony orchestra. The haunting melody remains from the more acoustic original, but the symphonic string arrangements add a whole new richness to the feeling of pure ache that underpins the song.
In an interview, Isakov once said that this is one of his pieces that feels “especially heavy.” Its lyrics can be interpreted in a ton of ways, as always, but because the song was written after the artist moved back in with his parents due to his father’s illness, they're often interpreted as describing a father-son relationship (from either person’s perspective).
4. Lights by Liz Cooper & the Stampede
Closing off this week with one I've been addicted to for a while now. Among the hits of Nashville-based trio Liz Cooper & the Stampede, Lights brings out the best of their psychedelically-tinged folk-rock style.
The song's energy feels like it’s being propelled forward the entire time, with Cooper’s voice sitting right on the border of edgy and gentle. Add a nostalgically dreamy melody to the mix and you barely notice the words being sung, which describe some swirling climax of a trip or euphoria of sorts (“I find a peace of mind / I lay upon a field of mushrooms / I start to consume and spin into the clouds and space and / all I see are lights”.)
And as if things weren't already appealing enough, lovers of winding guitar solos will be happily surprised 2 minutes in when Cooper sets the singing aside for a full minute and a half to show off her equally impressive guitar skill. What's not to love?
Listen on Spotify to all 'Songs of the week' here.
Comments