Tag: Dominoes

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Kendra Morris Returns with a Sardonic Sendup of Domesticity and Cohabitation

While celebrating a recent birthday, the acclaimed Florida-born, New York-based JOVM mainstay Kendra Morris was shaken by the realization that old habits were holding her back from growth. Something needed to change — and fast. She began writing new songs and rethinking of her old ones. Less-than-perfect takes were tolerated. She put a moratorium on love songs. As Morris puts it: “I needed to scare myself into growth.” The result is the acclaimed artist’s Torbitt Schwartz, a.k.a. Little Shalimar-prorudced fourth album I Am What I’m Waiting For.

Officially released today, through Karma Chief/Colemine Records, the album is a sophisticated, playful and joyful reinvention and an unfiltered expression of Morris’ weird universe that sees her delving deep into the little details. “How do you put yourself into a record?  I wanted to make it feel like you cracked open the ooze in my head,” Morris says. Fittingly, the album is an unvarnished self-portrait of Morris with all of life’s odd imperfections that captures the artist at the time of its creation. 

The 11-song album pairs Morris’ towering and effortlessly soulful vocal with a sound that features elements of dusty funk, R&B and touches of indie rock. Thematically, the album at points touches upon the mundane conflicts of domesticity and cohabitation, the Butterfly Effect, her fear of flying and even an attempt to expand the birthday song canon among others.

Last month, I wrote about “What Are You Waiting For,” a seamless synthesis of Muscle Shoals soul, psych soul, and Spoon-like indie rock built around a gritty, swaggering groove and Morris’ sultry and effortlessly soulful delivery. The song is a bold and playfully defiant feminist anthem that champions self-reliance and realness above all.

“Dominoes,” I Am What I’m Waiting For‘s third and latest single continues a run of material that meshes elements of Muscle Shoals-era soul, psych soul and Spoon-like indie rock paired with a swaggering and strutting groove and Morris’ powerhouse delivery. But at its core is a playfully sardonic skewering of the conflicts of domesticity and cohabitation that points out that hell can often be other people — including those you love.

Created by Morris and Julia Haltigan, and filmed in Morris’ Brooklyn home on VHS tape, the video features her husband and adorable pasta-loving dog Jerry and stop motion animation by Morris. The video goes through some of the scenarios discussed in the song. And while you can empathize with the fact that the scenarios are infuriating, there’s also the tacit and knowing nod that love is also accepting your dearest one’s irritating habits and quirks.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Edmonton’s The Civil Union Releases a Swooning and Infectious New Single

The Civil Union — singer/songwriter Andrew Pahl and visual artist Naomi Pahl — are an Edmonton-based husband and wife electro pop act that can trace its origins to when the duo met while in college: The duo wound up in the same songwriting course, where they both lamented the state of contemporary pop music. And much like any other creative meet cute, they exchanged their favorite indie/alt-pop playlists with each other and their phone numbers. Within a few weeks of their first meeting, Andrew and Naomi started writing songs together. About a year late, they got married and then over the next few years, they have four children together.

To support himself and his growing family, Andrew Pahl took up two full-time jobs as a social worker while managing to write and record several albums. He would play shows whenever possible while Naomi sold her art at local markets. The Pahls continued doing this until Naomi was diagnosed with Fibromyalgia and Endometriosis. Naomi Pahl was on medically mandated bed rest while waiting 18 months for restorative surgery. For Naomi, who was typically very energetic, life was on pause — and she was going stir crazy.

Knowing she needed an accessible creative outlet, Andrew started texting Naomi melodies and asking her if she could think of lyrics. This led to over 24 songs together, with the duo realizing that they had material that could be proud of and should be recorded. At that moment, The Civil Union was officially born.

After saving money to buy a laptop and sound gear, as well as to rent drums and other equipment, the Pahls spent weeks recording what was supposed to be their full-length debut, but someone broke into their house and stole the laptop with their music files. Refusing defeat, the Edmonton-based husband and wife duo bought a new laptop and spent the next 18 months writing and recording an even more expansive album, while preparing to play live shows once Naomi recovered from her surgery.

Naomi has recovered from surgery and the Pahls finished their debut album. And much like countless acts across the world, just as they were lining up shows, the COVID-19 pandemic put their plans on hold. Unsurprisingly, their debut album which features pounding drums, reverb drenched synths and lush boy-girl harmonizing speaks to our present moment: written through adversity and pain, the album is fueled by the fact that if you’re with your loved ones, you can probably get through anything together.

The Pahl’s latest single “Dominoes” is an upbeat and breezy pop confection, centered around arpeggiated synths reminiscent of Stevie Nicks’ “Stand Back” propulsive drumming, lush harmonies and melodies and a rousingly anthemic hook that’s perfect to shout along with your friends; but underneath all of that, the song evokes the swooning and contented sigh of profound, soul-affirming love. “It talks about the feeling of creating a different existence, with the person you love,” the Pahls say in press notes.