Life is too short, way too short, to waste it on artists and songs that say nothing of any consequence.
That’s not say that every song you listen should be a philosophical treatise set to music – having some mindless, go-with-the-groove fun can be good for the soul – but immersing yourself in pop music that doesn’t just sound amazing but speaks something to the great mystery of life too adds to the quality of your life.
These five impressively-diverse artists do just that, bringing forth richness both musically and lyrically, the perfect combination of music and thought that will please anyone who wants their life soundtrack to be as substantial as it is hook-laden.
“Nervous Young Inhumans” by Car Seat Headrest
It’s all in the name they say, and if that’s true and it often appears to be, then Car Seat Headrest have the whole memorable naming gig tied up.
Hailing from Leesburg Virginia back in the day and now happily ensconsed in the vibrant music scane of Seattle, Washington, Car Seat Headrest are not defined by their catchy name alone.
Songs like “Nervous Young Inhumans” which was originally released back in 2011 via Bandcamp and has now been refurbished and reborn for a label-reissue of Twin Fantasy, of which the artist behind the group (which comprises Will Toledo; Ethan Ives; Andrew Katz; Seth Dalby) Will Toledo had this to say:
“[Twin Fantasy] was never a finished work … it wasn’t until last year that I figured out how to finish it.” (Exclaim)
In its new guise, the song is a driving jangling piece of catchy guitar-infused synth pop that echoes with Toledo’s idiosyncratically resonant voice, proof that while necessity is oft spoke as the mother on invention, reinvention can happen just because, gifting us music we know and love in a whole otehr pleasing form.
“In My View” By Young Fathers
As a band devoted to defying expectations and calling out assumptions and flawed perception, Young Fathers, a biracial rap group (Alloysious Massaquoi, Kayus Bankole, ‘G’ Hastings) from Edinburgh have infused their wholly unique music with that same lyrical sensibility.
It’s most apparent on “In My View”, the second single from upcoming album Cocoa Sugar, which, as Pitchfork explains, calls out perceptions that aren’t quite right:
“Downtempo and monochromatic, the song is a hybrid, half-sung and half-spoken, as disembodied voices creak and echo. ‘In my view/Nothing’s ever given away/I believe/To advance then you must pay,’ Alloysious Massaquoi sings as drums scutter beneath whirring synth notes. ‘I wanna be king until I am/A man is just a man, I understand,’ ‘G’ Hastings adds. An overarching theme comes into focus: Everything isn’t what it’s made out to be.”
While it’s true “In My View” is not the most uptempo of tracks, it is richly-immersive, a beautiful tripping piece of music that challenges, and makes you think, making this piece of catchy pop one of those rare gems that pleases both mind and soul.
“Slower Than Usual” by Ariel Beesley
Singer/vocalist Ariel Beesley, who hails from the San Fernando Valley, California, is one those rare souls that excels at more than one thing.
A musician before she was a model, Ariel grew up with a eclectically-mixed palette that ranged from Frank Sinatra to The Cure, and began playing the guitar when she was 14, a precursor to writing her own songs.
All that perternatural ability has found a home in songs like “Slower Than Usual” that draw on a giddy driving ’80s feel that suggests The Go-Gos and makes excellent use of her dusky, evocative vocals that drip with laid-back passion and energy.
It’s one of those songs that sounds like something you’ve heard before and then doesn’t, marking her as someone who take in an influence, play with it and make it her owbn to consistently winning effect.
“Teenage Dream” by Black Light White Light
A psych rock band based in Malmö, Sweden, which once played host to Eurovision, Black Lighht White Light, founded by Danish-born Martin Ejlertsen who works with a number of friends to create the band’s sound which they describe, rather winningly on their Facebook page as “catchy melodies swirled in fuzzy guitars, distorted tremolo, chiming reverb, groovy bass lines and pounding beats in a Spectorish 60s universe with a modern Scandinavian twist.”
Now who could resist that kind of utterly distinct musical concoction?
Very few people and tracks like “Teenage Dream” keep capturing peoples’ attention, channelling all kinds of delicious sounds as beautifully described by Nordic Music Review:
“‘Teenage Dream’ is simple a belting track, led by a bold melodic keyboard driven theme, supported by fuzzy guitars, and the whole track is dripping with swirling psychedelia, but through it all Martin Ejlertsen’s vocals offer a soft melancholy quality that makes it really listenable. There are so many great influences from music across the last 50 years, but it still works perfectly today.”
The song somehow manages to be both energetic and ethereal all at once, a richly-rewarding piece of pop that dances and weaves around you, immerses you in such a way that remaining deep with its appealing folds for as long as possible comes across as a thoroughly compelling idea every time you listen to it.
“Fire” by Club 8
While the artwork might suggest meditative moments in a medieval chruch somewhere, “Fire” by Swedish electro-pop duo, Club 8 (Karolina Komstedt, Poprace and Johan Angergård, Acid House Kings, Poprace) dares to take you somewhere entirely different.
Motoring along in a chilled midtempo vibe, the song, suffused by Karolina’s magically-removed voice that glides through the minor key-buffed melody with silken-smooth beauty, is one those engagingly lo-fi efforts that has presence despite it laidback dynamic.
It’s all very subtle and elegant and gorgeously outside the pellmell of most electronica, a welcome respite that bristles with emotionally-evocative vibrancy and an assuring sense of endless chilled perfection.
If you’re looking for music that will consume and calm you all at once, then Club 8 have the goods, a constantly-reinventive duo who understands you can be powerful while understated, dazzling while kicking back from the madding crowd.
NOW THIS IS MUSIC EXTRA EXTRA!
Kurtis Jackson has created the most relaxing short film ever with footage of his friend Alex snowboarding down a snow-covered forested hill to the elegant beauty of Claude Debussy’s “Clair de Lune”. It is beautiful and you will fall into a reverie … oh yes, you will … (Laughing Squid)
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