okay so i posted this video yesterday but now i have more thoughts on it so i'm reposting it wholesale
like the song is remarkable and inspiring in all the ways that wildbirds and peacedrums is inspiring but i think what keeps me coming back to this video is that it focuses so heavily on Mariam and Andreas making out
wait let me explain
so much of their lyrical content has woven apocalyptic nature imagery with ruminations on closeness, the juxtaposition of which casts a darker pall on both. Keep Some Hope is no different, except the band is a real-life married couple who has been married for at LEAST seven years and there's something just so powerful about seeing two humans who have been together for the better part of a decade full-on making out while Mariam is singing "let me keep some hope / let me feel that I'm alive" over and over with layers slowly piling on top of one another.
Rhythm isn't their most stripped-down album (that would be their more improvisatory debut Heartcore) and it probably isn't their darkest album (Rivers) but it IS their most menacing and their most muscular. Wildbirds & Peacedrums have been branching out for the last two records with more harmonic and chordal density, mostly through steel drums and synth sub-bass samples, but they've always been at their most powerful when they focus on drums and vocals. Rhythm strips out so much of that extra harmonic foundation that the listener ends up wringing meaning out of each extra voice, each tuned drum, each electronic drone. "Who I Was" creates chord progressions out of the way Andreas has his toms tuned to incredible effect. Gone are a lot of the kiiiinda twee indie pop touches that The Snake dealt in. I don't know if this is my favorite Wildbirds & Peacedrums album yet, but it is great. It is so fucking great.
