I wonāt leave you ācause I still love you
So itās up to you if you choose to go
In the meantime, sleeping by my side
Our two cats, making sure Iāll be alright
i donāt think anything will match the utter gut-punch of a first line that is āwhere were you when i was still kind?ā from master and a hound by gregory alan isakov
Ok I have far fewer thoughts on Ryan so this probably won't be as lengthy and complex as my last post. While I do have very strong feelings tied to Low Roar's music, I find there to be a lot less variety in the themes of their songs. Instead, I think about Low Roar's 6-record discography as a demonstration of production, lyrical, vocal, and overall musical growth and development. The skills are honed and sharpened, with A House in the Woods showcasing peak ability and talent, fully realized.
Ryan Karazija, front man and lead vocalist & writer of Low Roar, passed away in October 2022 due to complications with pneumonia.
I started listening to Low Roar between albums 2 and 3, so I got to witness much of the growth and development in real time. The production on Low Roar's self-titled is very bare bones, with limited instrumental or sonic variety. There is some substantial white noise in the background of some of the tracks (Friends Make Garbage, etc.), the instrumentals don't really go beyond synths, acoustic guitar, and percussion, and the vocals are layered very simply. Nonetheless, the record is jam-packed with experimentation and artistic flair. Tracks feel a bit disjointed at times, functioning more individually than they do together. This album functions as a great proof of concept and skill that will develop throughout the coming 5 records, with many tracks that I still regularly listen to. The second album, 0, released 4 years later, showcases a bit more sophistication in terms of the recording. Some tracks are more conceptual, the instrumentation is very complex, and the sound seems to be pushing the potential that was evident on their debut record. Some ideas that were experimented with on their self-titled (ex. layered & pitched vocals on Nobody Else) are expanded upon with more refinement and skill on this album (I'll Keep Coming, Half Asleep). Later on in Low Roar's discography, their albums are all self-contained concepts, telling their own stories. There's evidence of a good number of conceptual ideas on these first two records, specifically with Friends Make Garbage and The Painter, and with In The Morning and Anything You Need. These ideas are contained to one or two tracks, but show clear intent to tell a developed story.
Between albums 2 and 3, the main developments I notice are with the sound and production quality, rather than the lyrics or storytelling. The instrumentals are more streamlined and precise, rather than the uncontrolled, reverberating sound of the instrumentals on the first two records. Still, resonance and longer-echoing instrumentals are used when needed to intentionally recreate the effects that defined the first record, and less so, the second. This instrumental style is very consistently used throughout the rest of their discography, contributing to their ethereal, dream-like sound quality, enhancing the listener's immersion in their mystifying songs. Although the lyrics have less development, it's still noticeable on tracks like Bones, St. Eriksplan, and Gosia. A more distinct improvement is the overall album structure from beginning to end. Strong intro, good run from tracks 2-3 to set the tone, bouncy track 4 before slowing it down in track 5 to lead into the slow, solemn feel of tracks 6 and 7. There's a sharp turn at track 8, the titular Once In A Long, Long While gently waking the listener back up with bouncy synths and rich lyrical imagery. Then, the fall from this glimmering track into the frantic, scared track 9, through the 5 minute choral interlude of track 10, leaving the listener worn out and sad at the sombre, lonely lyrics & instrumentals of the last song and effectively the finale in Track 11, followed by a nice instrumental outro to close out the album on track 12. While albums 4-6 don't follow this exact structure, it's the first to have a clearly established arc throughout the entire album, that we'll see iterations of again in their later works.
Their 4th studio album, "ross." mainly stands as a refinement of the growth and development shown in album 3. It's more concise, feels more deliberate, and a bit more explicit lyrically. As I've mentioned, their previous albums continue to build off of one another, and this is no exception. We get seemingly intentional callbacks to previous songs. If not on purpose, these references at least draw upon the same ideas and concepts that contributed to songs on previous records. I think most tracks from the album have at least one corresponding song from a previous album. Darkest Hour reminds me of Give Up from their self titled, as calm album intros with just vocals and acoustic guitar. Not Around reminds me of Without You from OIALLW, 222 reminds me of Gosia from OIALLW, and Blue Eyes reminds me of In The Morning from 0. I'm not pointing this out to say this album is unoriginal, rather that these tracks showcase the refined skill of Ryan & the rest of the band. The structure is firmly established on this record as the structure records 5 and 6 will follow as well. We have 2 intro songs before we get into the mini arc of HAFH to 222, ending with a climax that moves into Feel Like Dying with contrast that'll give you whiplash. Then, The Machine kind of acts as the default high point on the second half of the album, other than the final track as a grand conclusion, which I think is more climactic in this case. Blue Eyes squeezed in there is a great interlude track as well. Intro, bulk/mini arc, climax, contrasting shift to second half, climax, grand finale. This structure works for so many reasons and creates the perfect conditions for each song to shine on their own, and contribute to the overall story being told. "ross." has overarching themes of love and connection (Darkest Hour, Not Around), self destructive thoughts and behaviours (HAFH, I'll Make You Feel, Feel Like Dying), and self deprecation/hopelessness (222, The Machine, Slow Down, Blue Eyes, Empty House). It showcases some truly unfortunate thought patterns that reflect how grim a person's own depressed mind can become. Still, at the heart of this album, is a sense of longing, desire, and love. The warmth blankets the whole record, and burns hot on some tracks. There's no happy ending or light at the end of the tunnel, but the listener is left with a wall of sound and the distraught vocals of the last lines of Empty House.
I'm gonna talk about albums 5 and 6 in another post because they're my favourites and there's no way I can be concise about them. That said, the developments just from albums 1 to 4 in writing style, sound engineering, vocals, etc. showcase incredible growth in Low Roar's artistic capabilities. While there has always been a vision and artistic prowess noticeable in their work, album 4 really showcases how cohesion between all tracks on a record can elevate even the individual tracks. The defined perspective and overarching narrative of the album as a whole can be picked up on from any individual track, while each track still stands on it's own. By album 4, Low Roar has a very thoroughly established sound, vocal and instrumental style, and tendency towards storytelling that is finally close to reaching it's full potential. Album 5 exemplifies all of this in an overt, theatrical narrative style, and album 6 demonstrates an incredibly refined perspective that is honest, insightful, and abstract enough to show off their expert writing skills. I'd describe album 5 as a final thesis, to check all the boxes and exhibit skill and technique, while album 6 is the true apex of Low Roar's style and artistic craft, standing firmly as their best work.
I want to discuss the lives of two of my all time favourite artists, who passed away after I became a fan of theirs. These artists are Scott Hutchison (Frightened Rabbit/Owl John) and Ryan Karazija (Low Roar). Despite the difference in genre, performance style, lyrical content, etc., they have had incredibly unique and significant impacts in my life. I want to talk about how my perspectives on their music have changed after their deaths, and how the circumstances of their deaths relate to the music they produced. In no way do I intend to glorify their deaths, only to celebrate their lives and incredible contributions to the music world.
I have a lot to say, so for now, I'll stick to Scott. Some details are spared for the "read more".
Scott Hutchison was the front man, lead singer & primary lyricist of Frightened Rabbit. He unfortunately died from suicide in May 2018 at the age of 36. Scott's struggles with anxiety and depression were always incorporated into his music in various ways. While I can't speak on his behalf, this form of self expression can be very healthy and cathartic. Many of his songs simply lament the state of his mental health (The Greys, Nitrous Gas), but I'd say the vast majority maintain at least some small amount of hope. Songs like The Oil Slick, Head Rolls Off, and Lump Street profess how even a minimal level of optimism is all you need to keep moving. I hold this music so closely because it doesn't sugarcoat the really awful parts of life and mental health, but it never loses the perspective of being hopeful and optimistic despite this.
In considering Scott's death, and how he died specifically, some of his lyrics take on new meaning altogether. I've got to say, A Good Reason to Grow Old is one of the hardest songs of his to listen to, knowing he passed away at 36. Floating in the Forth is especially crazy to think about for a few reasons. Most obviously, the line "I think I'll save suicide for another day/year" was originally a sort of cheeky way to take a step back from the ledge and make a commitment to keep living. Unfortunately, it eventually rang truer than at least I expected it to. More subtly, and eerily, the references to the Forth Road Bridge are hard to think about considering the exact circumstances of his death and the events that lead to it. I won't go into detail (info linked below - 1), but knowing how this man's eventual death was depicted in this song 10 years in advance is tragic. It highlights a particular element of depression/suicidality, the feeling of inevitability, like you're circling of the drain, that I don't see discussed often, but is true to my own experiences, and evidently, Scott's as well.
In Not Miserable, the lines in the second verse "Though the corners are lit, the dark can return with the flick of a switch. It hasn't turned on me yet" also illustrate this point, in a more explicit way. I've had ups and downs in my own mental health, and even the good sometimes feels bittersweet, because if it's good, it can always get worse again. The looming potential of a downturn in your mental health is hard to shake, and in Scott's case, lyrics like these especially highlight how sometimes you can't truly "cure" depression or mental illness. In Scott's words, āI've always seen that kind of emotional turmoil as an illness. It's one that lasts for quite a long time and can't be fixed." (2) A piece of it can live on inside of you, only awoken by a specific, unanticipated event. Mental health recovery, ideally, should occur in both the short and long term, with immediate intervention to return to stability, and long term support to restructure your thoughts and emotional processes. You have to dig yourself out of the hole, and fill it back in so you can't fall into it again. In Scott's case, as he attested to, his mental health issues were recurring in nature. I think it's pessimistic to say that his death was inevitable, but it is an outcome that is unfortunately predicated by years and years of mental health struggles. At the very least, this was an outcome that he himself seemed to have recognized as an undesirable possibility.
Other songs (Boxing Night, Stupid Boy) help fill in the gaps of Scott's experiences of depression, and how his death was the result of his long term mental health struggles. The lyrics here demonstrate how insidious depression and anxiety can be, how it warps your whole perception of the people around you, and of yourself as well. Regardless of the objective facts of who you are, the way you feel about yourself becomes your reality, and you expect everyone around you to see you that way too. If you believe you're a bad person, you also believe that everyone around you thinks you're a bad person. The internal hatred becomes self fulfilling externally by your warped perception of the people around you. But, you can't always tell when your personal experiences don't match reality. This is a slope I've encountered, and been lucky enough to work past, but it is terrifying to truly believe that you don't deserve to live.
Although these details are important to consider in the grand scheme, we can't only focus on the negative. Like many of Scott's songs, I need to include some hopeful optimism. After Scott's death, the song that I've seen be used to memorialize him the most is Head Rolls Off. As another unfortunate reflection of the reality of his death, the lyrics make reference to the value and contributions a person can make to the world during their short life. Overall, the song is sarcastic and cynical of traditional understandings of virtue (like Dead Now and Holy), but redefines virtue as the value you can bring to the lives of others. The tiny changes you can make. As Scott's legacy has shown, this song is another that has rung true since his death, as his music has changed the lives of so many people. Tiny Changes, a Scottish charity established in Scott's memory, has spent years developing programs to help young people and their mental health in Scotland (3). The posthumous cover album Tiny Changes, recorded before Scott's passing, stands as a reminder of all that he did for the world of music (4). Scott's music continues to impact the lives of so many people, myself included. His writing is comforting and relatable, in the dark and the light. The lyrics often reflect how I've felt at different points in my life, but also leave me feeling incredibly hopeful. Head Rolls Off truly makes me appreciate life, and the positive impact that I can have on those around me. It empowers me to live life for all that it's worth.
I'd say any piece of music featuring Scott, regardless of subject matter, or Scott's level of involvement, was forever changed in my mind after he passed. Especially considering the subject matter of his writing, it's hard not to think about his life and death when listening. Lots of his music is unrelated to his mental health on the surface, but it's interwoven throughout everything he wrote. It just comes to mind in an odd way when he, prior to his death, discussed the concept of his eventual death, especially considering the circumstances of his actual death. Going off of his lyrics alone, it seems like an unsurprising end, but I don't think of his story as a cautionary tale. That would discredit all of the love he put into the world, and all of the times he pushed through his struggles. He died to suicide, but lived in spite of it for so long. His writing makes it obvious that it was on the table for a considerable amount of time before his death, and he fought against that outcome for years, bravely.
I think Scott's legacy is positive and hopeful, despite the sad nature of much of his work, and his passing. The turmoil and anguish isn't glorified, it's only recognized in order to contrast the positivity he inspired. Some songs don't feature any optimism, and showcase only the bleakest parts of reality. But even these songs are filled with life and passion. I'm generally someone who would rather listen to an album beginning to end rather than listen to a playlist, and Scott's albums are perfect for this. Any time it starts getting grim, there is light around the corner. Frightened Rabbit & Owl John's albums are never without their optimism, even if you have to trudge through the dark to get there. For every Stupid Boy, there's A Good Reason to Grow Old.
What's the blues here when you've got the greys?
I don't have much of a story to say
I just sit around at night and avoid day
If I do anything it at all it would be to get up
and avoid conversation and human contact
cause you can't touch the world if you can't even feel pain
Nitrous Gas:
Leave the acute warm heartedness
Go where the joyless bastard lives
Heās dying to bring you down with him
Suck in the bright red major key
Spit out the blue minor misery
Iām dying to bring you down with me
The Oil Slick:
There is light but thereās a tunnel to crawl through
There is love but misery loves you
Weāve still got hope so I think weāll be fine
In these disastrous times, disastrous times
Lump Street:
Get together now, find hope
There is a life beyond the one you already know
Get together now, build a home
There is life beyond the one you already know
A Good Reason to Grow Old:
With my head in my hands, I resolve to die alone
Now I've finally found a good reason to grow old
I was ready to drown in the afterlife, not anymore
Now I've finally found a good reason to grow old
Floating in the Forth:
Am I ready to leap, is there peace beneath
The roar of the Forth road bridge?
On the Northern side there's a Fife of mine
And a boat in the port for me
And fully clothed, I float away
(I'll float away)
Down the Forth, into the sea
I'll steer myself through chopping waves
As manic gulls scream it's okay
Take your life, give it a shake
Gather up all your loose change
I think I'll save suicide for another year
Not Miserable:
Though the corners are lit
The dark can return with the flick of a switch
It hasn't turned on me yet
Boxing Night:
This is boxing night
And someone lost an eye
I fear Iāve lost the last drop
Of whatever kept me awake, alive
I canāt call you all mine anymore
I canāt call you full stop
But you know you can call me up anytime
Call me whatever the fuck you want
Stupid Boy
Unlucky pup, a messy head
I'll piss in public, I'll shit the bed
Calm me down now, my beta blockPlease tell me how to, you're never wrong
I need assistance just to live
I'll never listen, please try anyway
(How can I? How can I...)
Come to be such a stupid boy?
(How can I? How can I...)
Ever be what you're looking for?
Dead Now:
I'm dead now can you hear the relief
As life's belligerent symphonies finally cease
We're all dead now, join hands and we'll sing
To the glory of hell and the virtue of sin
Holy:
I could dip my head in the river
Cleanse my soul
Iād still have the stomach of a sinner
Face like an un-holy ghost
Spare me all the soliloquies
Iāve paid my fines
And Iāll be gone before my deliverance
So preach what you like
Head Rolls Off:
Jesus is just a Spanish boy's name
How come one man got so much fame?
When it's all gone
Something carries on
And it's not morbid at all
Just that nature's had enough of you
When my blood stops
Someone else's will not
When my head rolls off
Someone else's will turn
And while I'm alive, I'll make tiny changes to earth
I figured this album would be a good place to start since I've already taken (very thorough) notes on every track to discuss with my friend offline lol
Overall Notes - 8/10
The early parts of the album seem to make indirect reference to Lorde's earlier work, specifically Melodrama. After the stark tonal shift from Melodrama to Solar Power, many fans complained about the change in sound, and I think references to Melodrama help get listeners more acquainted with her new style on this album, and the later tracks seem to stand apart from Lorde's earlier work entirely. This album is very successful at shifting focus towards the present & future of Lorde's career, explicitly through the lyrics, and implicitly through the use of musical references to ease fans into the new style. The past is acknowledged and accepted and the unknown elements of the future are understood
The aspect of this album that I struggle with the most is unfortunately one of the themes that is most present and explicitly mentioned in the lyrics, specifically in four different tracks, those being Shapeshifter, Favourite Daughter, Current Affairs, and GRWM (notice these take up the bottom 4 positions in my ranking). Topics of girlhood/womanhood, having a mother-daughter relationship, the position of women within society as individuals and as part of the lives of other women around you are all very key to the album as a whole, especially in the context of rebirth and finding oneself. As a man, these are not subjects that I have personal experience in, though I can acknowledge and appreciate a lot of the meaning behind these themes, and how they fit into the larger narrative of the album overall. Because I can't fully grasp all of the nuance of the lyrics in these tracks, I find them to be somewhat repetitive even though the subject matter isn't identical between all four. I also have some trouble with some of the meaning/depth behind the lyrics in these songs. In some parts, the emotions you're meant to feel are told to you, rather than conveyed through imagery/context, which isn't as enjoyable to me personally. Some of these lyrics just remind me of the "edgy" girls I went to high school with who intentionally made their trauma a part of their personality/sense of humour in a very uncomfortable way.
I find that the lyrics in some of these tracks lack subtlety in a way that I think would have substantially improved the album. I think tracks like Clearblue and David showcase a great balance between explicit and implicit themes, and I wish more of the album reflected that. At the end of the day, it is a pop album, and to reach a broader audience, you sometimes can't risk the ambiguity of meaning that comes with subtlety, but my taste is definitely in favour of being more subtle & up for interpretation.
Track Ranking
Man of the Year
David
Clearblue
Broken Glass
If She Could See Me Now
Hammer
What Was That
Favourite Daughter
Shapeshifter
Current Affairs
GRWM
Track by Track
Hammer: Great start, instrumentally very strong & reflective of how the rest of the album will sound. Familiar instrumental/vocal structure & layering, lyrical style is slightly reminiscent of her earlier work, but specifically discusses new feelings/experiences ("piercing my ears", "might have been born again"). This introduces the overall album themes of reinvention & the emotions that come with it. 8/10
What Was That: Another track to finish establishing the tone of the album. While Hammer was stronger thematically with it's lyrics, this track is stronger in setting the instrumental tone that you can expect for the rest of the album. The subtleties & highs/lows of this track fill in the gaps of where the album is headed, and the lyrics act as a good counterpart to Hammer, looking back at the past rather than the future for right now. This theme is also conveyed through the instrumentals. The synths used in the chorus after the words "what was that" are very reminiscent of Melodrama (specifically Homemade Dynamite). These references help guide the audience towards Lorde's new style (featured later in the album) by showing how the past can blend with the future, as these styles are blended in this track. 8/10
Shapeshifter: This is the track that I think makes the most instrumental references to Melodrama, though there's a strong decline in that going forward. The spoken word segments aren't really my taste, and I get the effect they were going for, but I think the lack of subtlety in the lyrics conflicts with the more stony, impenetrable, nature of the vocal style here. Lyrically, this is one of the weaker songs, and some parts of the chorus do feel quite repetitive, especially since the chorus is quite long. I think the use of the acoustic strings & piano also holds this song back from being truly integrated seamlessly into the rest of the album. Still, as a slight departure from the first two tracks, this song is successful in showing more dimensions to the perspective of this album, before honing in on a more distilled version of Lorde's new style in the later tracks. 7/10
Man of the Year: I think this is the best individual track on the album, as it touches on most if not all main themes of growth, identity, gender, and some of the more vulgar/explicit sexual themes that are referenced later in the album. The narrative structure of the song is very impressive, effectively conveyed with the instrumental structure itself. The slow build of the first verse, into the playful beat of the second verse, the low drone into the chorus after the second verse, into the beat drop & explosive final chorus parallel the easy to listen to lyrics at the beginning, and transition towards more emphatic, almost desperate sounding vocals in the final chorus. The vocals are very expressive, and help convey these themes very well. I wish i remembered more from music theory in high school because the chord progression is really interesting, I just can't properly analyze it. 100/10
Favourite Daughter: As the second of the four songs with similar thematic content, I think this track stands on its own the best. Narratively, there is a strong beginning, middle, and end, in terms of the instrumentals, vocals and lyrics. The switch from "'Cause I'm an actress" to "I'm a good actress" in the final chorus, along with the breathy, almost pleading sounding vocals, and the instrumental dropoff to isolate the vocals is very impactful, and stands as the narrative climax to truly express the emotional toll of a mother's unfair expectations. While I'm not a big fan of some of the specific instrumental choices on this track, I think everything serves it's purpose. The bridge is also very strong, marking a bold shift in sound that lays the groundwork perfectly for the final chorus. 8/10
*Current Affairs: I think this song and GRWM suffer the most from the unambiguous, almost vulgar sexual references in the lyrics. The lyrics frame sexuality from a very personal, intimate perspective without the fluff/sexiness that you find in lots of other pop music. The flat, objective delivery of lines like "you're tasting my underwear" describe sex in a very unsexy way, and while this is an effective way to subvert expectations and discuss sexuality from a perspective that's more reflective of the overall themes of the album (growth, individuality, vulnerability), I think for casual listeners, it comes off sounding juvenile and unappealing at times. To keep it short, the listening experience is sacrificed for the analytical value of the lyrics, which may or may not be successful depending on why you're listening to this song/album in the first place. I find the spoken repetition of the lyrics in the second chorus to be distracting and unnecessary. Unfortunately, there are a number of deliberate stylistic choices made on this track that I think are effective to a particular audience, and i just might not be part of that audience. Aside from the sexual references, there is little ambiguity in the lyrics, and I think the song suffers as a result. Otherwise, I find the overall structure to be effective but unexciting, and instrumentals to be in line with the rest of the album, but also not very interesting. The song fits well with the rest of the album, but showcases some of the album's weak points. 6/10
**Clearblue: The part of this song that it seems people can't get over is Justin Vernon's obvious influence, but I think it might be exactly what the album needed at this point. Apart from his other work, I've found that Bon Iver sways a little too far in the opposite direction from Lorde (esp on this album) in regards to how explicitly the lyrics convey the themes of a song/album, with many of Bon Iver's lyrics straying too far into ambiguity that the lyrics become meaningless. Having said that, these lyrics are perfectly unexplicit while still communicating the exact physical and emotional feelings tied to sexual experiences. Because of the lack of instrumentals, the vocals & lyrics have to stand on their own, but they're so strong that I think any complex backing music would be distracting. It's incredibly well written, I could honestly do an entire analysis just in the lyrics of this song. Aside from all of that, I also just think it's so incredibly creative to have a song about taking a pregnancy test called Clearblue that is exactly two minutes long. Genius. 10/10
GRWM: This being the fourth and last of these songs with similar themes out of 8 tracks so far is where my thoughts start to dwindle on this album, and the final three tracks thankfully bring me back around. I don't think I would have as much of a problem with these songs if the album was longer, or these songs were a little less narrow in theme/subject. Because these songs are so dedicated to their specific messages, there's not much room for other creativity in their lyrics & themes. The most interesting part of this song is the music behind the vocals, which is in my opinion a step up from Current Affairs. Unfortunately, both the lyrics and vocal style (esp in the chorus) feel a bit uninspired and repetitive, especially since we've already heard Favourite Daughter, which does the themes of growing up, inheriting family trauma, and mother/daughter relationships much more effectively. This feels kind of cheap to mention, but this is the track that reminds me most of the annoying people I went to highschool with. I think this is the weakest track vocally and lyrically. 6/10
Broken Glass: After the arguably weakest track on the album, and now that we're past the four most similar tracks, we approach the end and dive deep into pure new-era Lorde style, still heavily influenced by her earlier work, but highly distinct and modern. This track is a great transition point, with the bouncy synths and quicker tempo to reenergize the listener for the final stretch. I think the music behind the vocals really enhances the listening experience without overpowering the lyrics, which I think are the centrepiece of this track. Lorde is no stranger to the topic of body image and weight loss, but I think this perspective is so refreshing and needed. The lyrics remind me of some of my favourite musicians, namely Frightened Rabbit, specifically from tracks like Oil Slick and Escape Route, which don't shy away from the tragic and melancholic aspects of life, but depict a sliver of optimism that makes everything worth it. This track's lyrics are blunt and honest about her struggle with her body, but still have the glimmer of hope that it's not as important as you may think, even if that's something you need to remind/convince yourself of. 9/10
If She Could See Me Now: I think this track's lyrics really demonstrate some of my gripes with the writing on the album. Some lines are subtle, yet intentional and precise (Our bodies move like the spirits inside them), and others just feel cringey-edgy-tryhard (In the gym I'm exercising all my demons). On the other hand, I think the variety of vocal styles that she uses on this track really show off the production and sound strengths of the album. The heavily stylized run between the first and second verse (idk the production term for the editing they use here), the airy higher-pitched vocals leading up to and during the chorus, the "oh god"s, showcase such a range of sound that I think really enhances the track. The vocals, along with the instrumental variation (harsh synths & percussion in the verses, with soft, glimmering strings(?) in the chorus) really help recap Lorde's current style and skills, especially as the second-to-last track. 8/10
David: This is such a perfect track to end the album with. I think it captures so many elements that are sprinkled throughout the album that just tie everything together and leave the listener wanting more. The intro with bare vocals is reminiscent of Man of the Year. The vocal layering in the chorus is used on a few other tracks like Clearblue, along with the slow build of the synths early/midway through the track. The simple instrumental melody is perfect backing for the introspective and thought provoking lyrics. This song presents the album's thesis of "I don't belong to anyone" as the crux of this song, directly under a spotlight, supported by the entire production of the track. I have no complaints about the lyrics, I actually think their straightforwardness works to the benefit of this song, especially as the album's finale. There is still substantial metaphor and subtlety used, making it all the more fun to listen to and analyze. The buildup after the second chorus towards the song's climax, before the sharp dropoff of the last 30 seconds or so with "Am I ever gonna love again?" repeating is an incredible way to end the album, and leave the listener wanting more. The entire production supports the themes of introspection, reflection, and acceptance of yourself and your past. It's harsh, honest, and comforting all at once. 10/10
"I made you God 'cause it was all I knew how to do"
*PS - More on the blunt, straightforward lyrics regarding sex & how it subverts the listener's expectations: The listener is made to feel uncomfortable about an experience that's often only portrayed as something enjoyable and liberating in pop culture, which seems to intentionally highlight the more true to life aspects of sex and sexuality. I just think the average listener is slightly turned off by some of these specific choices, which, even if that's the point, doesn't make for an easy/relaxed listening experience, which, for pop music, is usually the point. This topic reminds me of Gibson Girl by Ethel Cain, but in an inverted sense, where these terrifying, violent acts are framed by the music, lyrics, and vocal style as sexy and attractive, while in reality Ethel is fighting for her life, completely under the control of her abuser. The different framings and context of sexuality in music is such a broad topic, and while I don't think these songs are exact opposites, I bring up Gibson girl to help illustrate how varying the depiction of sexuality can be in music.
**PPS - On lyrical analysis & Bon Iver: I really dislike the hipster big brain-ification of lyrical/literature analysis. When the lyrics are as ambiguous as they are in his work, I can't even tell what the intent behind the work is, which in my opinion is a failure on his part to adequately convey the emotions he intends to convey. Emotion can be conveyed through the non-vocal musical elements just as effectively, but at the point of having meaningless lyrics, I don't see why you wouldn't just cut the vocals entirely to appropriately highlight the emotional weight of the music. Unfortunately, I honestly think that if a dozen people were to hear the same Bon Iver lyrics, they would leave with a dozen different interpretations of the meaning, some of which conflict with one another, and I don't think that's a sign of good/effective writing. While I appreciate ambiguity over explicitness, if the emotions you're trying to convey aren't effectively communicated without being explicit, then I think the writing needs to be improved. There are ways to be ambiguous while still writing effectively with intent and getting the meaning across. I think of songs like I Bet On Losing Dogs and Hardline by Julien Baker that are abstract and still effective in their lyrical storytelling. I am a genuine fan of Bon Iver, but not for the lyrics.
Honestly I'm just a big music nerd and I have nowhere else to put my thoughts so I'm gonna do that here :)
Username: Reference to "Beaten" by Meursault
- One of my favourite songs, from the perspective of someone who is unhappy/unsatisfied with their life and decides to regress into the amphibious genetic ancestor of all mammals and go back into the ocean to escape it all. The lyrics of the chorus discuss taking on a new frontier without certainty/guarantee that things will workout, but being prepared to handle any possible outcome. "Woe-er is me, and I have not forgotten love, and I have not forgotten my true name."
Blog title: Reference to Untitled by Meursault
- Another great song, from the perspective of a premature baby bird that was too excited to be alive and experience the world that it broke from it's egg before it was ready. Discusses themes of accepting fate and understanding how a person's mistakes may lead to their own demise, and making peace with that. "I was wrong, but I was happy. And I could die with a smile"
Fav genres: alternative, folk, rock, indie
Fav regional music: Iceland, Scotland, Ireland, Americana
2087
kianamaiart
stormborns
areudirty
dededos
tangentwithtanner
romaincrisis
