Fluxblog Weekly #46: Esperanza Spalding, Lucy Dacus, Animal Collective, Quilt, The Orielles
March 7th, 2016
Singing Scripted Delight
Esperanza Spalding “Unconditional Love”
The main melody of “Unconditional Love” is so gorgeous and graceful that it’s hard to imagine that it was actually written, and didn’t just always exist somehow. Esperanza Spalding’s vocal is like this very elegant curved line that gently curls up to lovely high notes at the top of her range. She leaves a lot of negative space in the arrangement to keep that sound from getting too heavy and rich – the main chord progression is offset slightly, and the percussion seems to trace around the bass notes rather than click into a steady groove. The song sounds beautiful and confident but slightly off-balance. This fits the tone of the lyrics rather well, as Spalding is singing about redefining the traditional narrative of love to be more progressive and less restrictive. She’s absolutely certain about what she wants and has a very clear vision of an ideal situation, but it’s all sort of theoretical. Any bit of distance and doubt in the sound of this song is just the gap between the idea and reality, and the rest is a dare: Let’s do this, what do we have to be afraid of?
Buy it from Amazon.
March 8th, 2016
Honesty Is Like A Kiss On The Lips
Lucy Dacus “Direct Address”
Lucy Dacus keeps singing “I don’t believe in love at first sight” in this song, but every other line suggests otherwise, as she describes feeling totally paralyzed with lust for these men she sees in passing. Now, of course, that’s not real love, per se. But it is exactly what “love at first sight is;” the feeling of sudden intense infatuation with someone you see and feel very strongly that you need. “Direct Address” describes this feeling so well, examining the odd dynamic of filling in as many details about a person as you can from inference, and never acting on the attraction but holding on to the memory for years because the feeling was more eventful than most actual events. Dacus’ performance is lodged somewhere between frustrated irritation and coy flirtation, and the pace of the song feels impatient and restless. She sounds like she’s trying to shake herself out of a bad habit, but in the end when she recalls a man she saw in an audience years ago, the details are rendered with so much affection that she makes a good case for these moments being actually quite meaningful and beautiful.
Buy it from Amazon.
March 9th, 2016
The Tips Of Cities
Animal Collective “Vertical”
There’s very little ego in Animal Collective. When they sing about personal relationships, it’s always in this gentle, supportive way, and appreciative of small moments with people they care about. When they sing about the world around them, it’s with a bit of awe or bemusement. That comes through in the sound of the music too, as they favor these sort of upbeat melodies that signal amiable generosity, or stoned introversion. “Vertical” is a great example of this, as the harmonies and syncopation are just odd enough that a rather straightforward melodic theme feels scattered and swirled. I love the effect this has on the way you hear the lyrics – these snippets of images and stray thoughts are evocative, but are scrambled enough that it’s less about a statement, and more about a sensation of feeling like everything’s spinning around you.
Buy it from Amazon.
March 10th, 2016
Something Keeps Running Away
Quilt “Hissing My Plea”
I wasn’t surprised when I read a thing in which the singer of this band explained that “Hissing My Plea” was built out of bits of other abandoned songs. Not in the sense that the song is fragmented or doesn’t hang together well, but in that there’s several strong melodies and grooves in this, and it sounds very carefully crafted. I love the way they contrast this casual, stoner-ish bass groove with a very regal string arrangement, and the way Anna Fox Rochinski sounds so poised as she sings. There’s a delicate quality to her voice, but also this very grounded confidence in her phrasing, particularly as she expresses frustration and desperation. She makes the darkest feelings seem sorta serene.
Buy it from Amazon.
March 11th, 2016 2:47am
Thinking Way Too Fast
The Orielles “Jobin”
This is a pretty simple garage rock song, but it has the presence of something a lot more grand and ornate. A lot of that is in the main lead guitar part, which cuts through the song with the grace of a gentle folk tune while the drums bash out a simple beat that echoes like something a lot more epic. “Jobin” is just over two minutes long, but The Orielles do a lot with very little in that time, all at the service of a lead vocal that gets across some very critical words with just the right balance of seriousness and sass.
Buy it from Bandcamp.