Rodrigo Amarante is better known for his work as a member of Little Joy and Los Hermanos released his debut solo effort, Cavalo last month Easy Sound Records. “Hourglass,” the album’s first single, much like the entire album was written in a peculiar period of exile in which Amarante was much like a stranger in a foreign land, and a stranger in a land that was once home but has become mythologized in his mind — sensations and feelings that have interestingly enough become familiar to me upon my return from Germany. 

Sonically, the song owes a bit of a debt to the psychedelic 60s, thanks to it’s buzzing and twisting series of organ chords that begin the track and punctuate the hook; however, the throbbing bass and Amarante’s speak-sing vocals immediately remind me of Cake. Sure, the song has an art school sheen while containing an incredibly catchy hook — the song is infectious and will drill its way into you brain, I promise. But lyrically, the song talks about the sensation of time passing and in a way that makes you recognize that same sensation can be strangely relative and yet universal – 15 years can feel like 5 years, 5 years like 20; a week like a year; and so on. 

The official video, shot in a grainy black and white, and surreal imagery reminds me quite a lot of Twilight Zone episodes. You can almost picture Rod Serling smoking while introducing the theme of this week’s particular episode.