Tag: Single Review

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

 

Born in Reno, NV and currently based in Nashville, TN, alt rock/blues rock artist Jack Berry can trace the origins of his recording career to when he wrote and recorded his first album while studying in Los Angeles. Berry then worked and performed along the West Coast as one half a of a duo before before he decided that it was time to go solo. Relocating to Nashville, Berry spent several months couch-surfing and writing and recording material with the hopes that he could catch the attention of that city’s local press.

Eventually, Berry began receiving praise from outlets both locally and nationally from the likes of Nashville Scene, The Deli Magazine, Blues Rock Review and others, which resulted in slots at Toronto‘s North by Northeast (NXNE), CMJ and SXSW‘s Red Gorilla Festival. Since then, Berry has played a number of venues between his home base and NYC; however, 2016 may be his breakthrough year with the Spring 2016 release of his latest album, Mean Machine. 

“The Bull,” Mean Machine‘s first single is a sultry and bluesy single that pairs arena rock friendly power chords, propulsive and carefully syncopated drumming, an anthemic hook and Berry’s seductive crooning and howling that sonically seems to draw from Soundgarden (think of “Mailman” “Spoonman,”and “Fell on Black Days” off Superunknown) as it does from old-school blues and contemporary rock.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Currently comprised of founding members Dabney Dwelle (guitar, vocals and Wurlitzer) and Tim O’Neill, formerly of Rhythm of Black Lines (drums) along with Jonathan Skaggs, formerly of Crime in Choir (bass) and John Hale (keyboards), Austin, TX-based indie rock/indie pop quartet My Golden Calf can actually trace their origins to when Dwelle was searching for a new songwriting approach after his previous band, Quien es, Boom had split up. Eventually Dwelle put his guitar down and began writing songs on an old, broken down Wurlitzer electric piano. Dwelle quickly recruited longtime friend O’Neill to assist him in fleshing out his early demos and ideas. And after a number of lineup changes Skaggs and Hale joined to complete the current lineup.

The quartet spent 2014 writing and demoing songs, and then testing the songs in live shows until the band felt that they had album-ready material, which they recorded during the early part of last year, at their newly-constructed Captain Douglas Studios. The end result is the band’s forthcoming debut full-length effort Perfume Brute, which is slated for a February 26, 2016 release. The album’s first single “Either” begins with a tight driving groove, angular burst of guitar, twisting and turning piano chords and big hooks paired with Dwelle’s plaintive crooning. Sonically the song sounds as though it draws from 70s AM radio rock — while subtly (and jauntily) pushing a familiar sound to the 21st Century.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

If you’ve been frequenting this site over the past few weeks, you may recall a post I wrote about the Sunderland, UK-based duo Field Music. Comprised of its creative masterminds, sibling duo Peter and David Brewis and featuring the contributions of Kev Dosdale, Andrew Lowther, Ian Black, Liz Corney, Andrew Moore, Damo Waters and a rotating casts of collaborators, the Brewis Brothers have developed an internationally recognized profile for a for a sound comprised of interwoven vocals, slightly off chords and chord changes, a slightly off-kilter yet approachable experimental pop sensibility — and for material based around incredibly catchy choruses.

Over the past few years, Field Music has been on hiatus as the Brewises were busy with a variety of side projects. But they found themselves inevitably drawn back to working together on their own songs. As David Brewis explained in press notes, “As much fun as we might have had on our own or collaborating, we missed just spending time in the studio, the two of us, trying things out and playing together.” Interestingly, Commontime. the first Field Music album in several years was written and recorded over spontaneous bursts over a six month period in their Wearside, UK-based studio. And the material the Brewis Brothers wrote was focused around them playing and singing — while featuring contributions from original keyboardist Andrew Moore, Peter Brewis’ wife Jennie Brewis, vocals from the newest member of the touring band, Liz Corney and a variety of other collaborators. “We wanted to embrace being a duo, and perversely, that made us feel more comfortable about all of those conspicuous cameos,” David Brewis notes.
Reportedly, the album’s material is reportedly based around the passing of time — acquaintances coming and going, friendships drifting and diffusing over time, random snippets of the every day and real-life conversations being replayed. In fact, Commontime’s first single “The Noisy Days Are Over,” was based on a conversation between two friends who are struggling to say goodbye to their boozy, hard-partying youthful days.  Sonically, the song paired funky guitar chords, propulsive percussion, dramatic keyboard chords and the Brewis brothers’ ironic yet wistful vocals with warm and soulful blasts of saxophone and strings in a song that reminds me both of Superhuman Happiness‘ Escape Velocity (in particular, I think of “Drawing Lines” and “Super 8“) and of Talking Heads as all three are eccentric and expansive visions of what you can do with pop — while being approachable.

Commontime‘s latest single “Disappointed” begins with a David Bowie-like introduction of shimmering and soulful guitars and gentle drumming before turning into a bit of off-kilter funk with propulsive and hard hitting drums, a sinuous bass line, the Brewis Brothers’ ironically detached and yet wistful vocals, gorgeous piano keys and angular guitar chords; sonically, the song sounds as though the Brewis Brothers were drawing from fellow Englishman Tom Vek. Lyrically, the song focuses on an ambivalent and confusing relationship in which disappointment is bound to happen. Of course, interestingly enough, the song also suggests that disappointment may be part of the human condition; that all relationships have their disappointments — and it’s okay.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Comprised of Emma Wigwam, Mark Jasper and Ed Shellard, Witching Waves emerged from the London, UK DIY scene with a tense sound consisting of angular guitar chords, propulsive drumming and anthemic hooks reminiscent of 90s alternative rock, as you’ll hear on “Twister,” the latest single off the band’s new album, Crystal Cafe. Sonically, the song sounds as though it draws equally from Wire, Gang of Four and Sleater -Kinney — while lyrically, focusing on the contemporary, modern condition. And as a result, the song evokes the sensation of constant tumult, uncertainty and danger, desperate alienation, stagnation and misdirected anger. It’s being pissed off and not always understanding why or how — and not knowing where to direct it because you’re so angry all the time over everything. If that doesn’t describe the life of a great deal of young people, nothing else really will.

 

 

 

 

 

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

 

Over the past couple of years, Los Angeles-based, indie electro pop duo Pr0files have become JOVM mainstay artists. And if you’ve been frequenting this site during that period, you may recall the duo’s backstory. Comprised of Comprised of Lauren Pardini (vocals, keys) and Danny Sternbaum, the project can trace its origins to when they were bandmates with Sonny Moore (who these days, you may known as mega-hit electronic music artist and producer Skrillex) in The Boy Traveller.

After The Boy Traveller split up, Pardini wrote for DJ Khalil’s camp and has written tracks for Eminem, Kendrick Lamar and Drake, has collaborated with with Purity Ring’s Corin Roddick and was briefly a member of the acclaimed The Silver Lake Chorus. Sternbaum on the other hand started his own band Baby Monster, an act that toured with Klaxons, Miike Snow and Metric; and developed a reputation as a producer and remixer, who has remixed tracks by Ellie Goulding, Gorillaz, Foster the Children and Miami Horror. Together, Pardini and Sternbaum first won attention across the blogosphere with the release of “Call Yourself A Lover,” “Luxury” which established the duo’s reputation for a sound that possesses elements of R&B, pop and electronic dance music.

“I Know You Still Care,” the first single off the duo’s long-awaited full-length debut, Jurassic Technologie, felt and sounded like a decided change in sonic direction, as the song possessed an urgent, insistent sensuality reminiscent of Giorgio Moroder‘s legendary work in the 1970s, as the song consisted of layers of shimmering and cascading synths, skittering percussion paired with Padroni’s seductive cooing to create what may arguably have been the duo’s most sensual and straightforward dance track they’ve released to date. However, the album’s second single “Empty Hands” was a slow-burning and anthemic pop song comprised of layers of cascading synth stabs, swirling, atmospheric electronics, propulsive drum programming, incredibly catchy hooks, and Pardini’s earnest, pop belter/torch song vocals to craft a song that sounds as though it owes a debt to 80s synth pop and more contemporary fare, such as Haerts and St. Lucia.

The duo continues to build on the buzz of Jurassic Technologie‘s first two singles with the release of the album’s third and latest single “Like a Knife.” And much like the album’s first single, “Like a Knife” is a sleek and sultry song comprised of shimmering synths, bluesy guitar chords, wobbling and tumbling low end and Pardini’s sexy coos. And as a result, the song possesses an urgent, almost plaintive, sexual need — while pairing need, vulnerability and hurt simultaneously; after all, love and lust are in many ways part of the same complex array of emotions that we all have experienced and wanted without quite understanding it.

 

 

 

 

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Lucius’ New Single Subtly Expands Their Gorgeous Sound

Over the past couple of years, Brooklyn-based quartet Lucius has received critical praise and attention from the blogosphere (including this site) and major media outlets such as  Rolling Stone who had once named them a “Band to Watch.” and Time who […]

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Ursa Major is a 19 year-old Toronto, ON-based singer/songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and producer, who describes his work and sound as Psychedelic R&B as he claims that his sound manages to fit in a comfortable middle ground between the sounds of the past and the contemporary electronic production — although to my ears, the Canadian producer’s debut single “Dusk” bears an uncanny resemblance to JOVM mainstay act, Gosh Pith as the song pairs rumbling and wobbling low end, skittering drum programming and soulful vocals in a song that focuses on lust, loneliness and desperate longing. That shouldn’t be surprising as the young and super talented Canadian artist has noted that his early work focuses on past loves, a fear and inability to move forward, and the complicated and heartbreaking process of falling in and out of love repeatedly. And if you remember anything about being 19 it seems that love was a fickle and ridiculous thing.

 

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

 

Over the course of 2015, Detroit, MI-based duo Gosh Pith have become JOVM mainstays while gaining a rapidly growing national profile for a sound and songwriting approach that generally focused on capturing a specific feeling or sensation, rather than capturing a concrete narrative. Interestingly over that same period, the duo has been experimenting with their sound and songwriting approach with their sound gradually becoming warmer and R&B-leaning with guitar becoming much more prominent on later releases.

Now you may recall that the duo closed out what turned out to be a huge 2015 with the release of “Gold Chain,” the first single and title track off the duo’s forthcoming EP, Gold Chain, which is slated for a February 25 release through B3SCI Records and with a set opening up for Girlyboi at Rough Trade. The EP’s second and latest single “K9” continues where the first single left off as skittering drum programming, wobbling bass, guitar chords fed through reverb and delay pedals and sultry hip-hop and R&B inspired vocals in a way that subtly hints at Timbaland — but much more atmospheric. And much like the preceding single, the song is a a “ratchet” love song, in which the narrator and the object of his affections being in love and doing sleazy things together because they enjoy them.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Perhaps best known for his stint with long-time collaborator David Bazan in Pedro the Lion, TW Walsh emerged as a highly regarded singer/songwriter with the 2011 release of Songs of Pain and Leisure. And as Walsh explained in press notes, after the release of every album he’s worked on, he’s often thought about packing it in and doing something else — and with Songs he had felt as though he may have completed something.

At the beginning of 2013, Walsh came down with a mysterious and debilitating illness and over the next 18 months, the singer/songwriter struggled to function. “I didn’t have the energy to be creative . . . I could barely function at all. The only diagnosis I ever received was chronic fatigue syndrome. but I’m still not convinced that was correct. I’ll probably never know what was wrong with me. I’m still not nearly 100%. Eventually, I started to feel better, but then I fell off my bike and broke my elbow. This made it impossible to play guitar or drums for several months” Walsh adds in press notes.

Walsh eventually started to feel healthy enough to start messing around with song ideas. He recorded several demos but nothing sounded quite right to him — he wanted the arrangements to be weirder and more varied and didn’t know how exactly to do it. As the story goes, Walsh contacted Yuuki Matthews, known for his work with The Shins, David Bazan, Crystal Skulls and Teardrops in early 2014 to collaborate together. “This approach clicked” Walsh said “so over the course of exactly one year, we finished the ten songs that make up Fruitless Research. In a few cases, Yuuki reworked the songs from the ground up — keeping only the vocal and some drum elements, and building a new chord progression around the melody. In other cases, he added overdubs and did some creative editing. But in every instance, his vision pushed the song over the edge into something exciting . . . something that I wouldn’t have done on my own. His mixes also blew me away. They’re pretty unconventional at times in their saturation and character. It kind of sounds like a tape from the 80’s you left in the car too long.”

Walsh adds, “Lyrically, this record documents a time of upheaval, discovery and change for me. I turned 40 right in the middle of it. I’ve been working through a lot of existential stuff. At some point, you gotta take a hard look at reality. Try to figure out what your life means.”

“Young Rebels,” the first single off Fruitless Research consists of twisting and turning synth chords, buzzing guitar, throbbing bass and thundering drums paired with an incredibly anthemic hook, and in some way it makes the song sound as though it were recorded in 1983 — think of The Fixx‘s “Red Skies” — but on old, warped analog tape that’s sat around in a dusty room.

 

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

 

If you’ve been frequenting this site over the past few months, you may recall that I’ve written about San Francisco, CA and Big Sur, CA-based singer/songwriter, guitarist and producer Jenny Gillespie. Gillespie can trace her musical career to he childhood — during drives to and from the Springfield, IL area, where she was born and raised, she spent quite a bit of time harmonizing in the backseat with her sister, who is a gifted and renowned pianist. When the San Francisco and Big Sur-based singer/songwriter was 13, she picked up her mother’s Martin guitar and began putting the poems she had been writing to her own original music. Gillespie’s life was further changed when a local record store clerk gave her album from three of the 90s most renowned singer/songwriters Tori Amos, Sarah McLachlan and Shawn Colvin — all of whom quickly became major influences on Gillespie’s music and songwriting.

After stints living in Virginia, Paris and Texas, Gillespie relocated to Chicago, where she self-produced and then released her sophomore album, Light Year, a folk and alt-country album that received quite a bit of praise. And as a result the attention Light Year received, Gillespie met Darwin Smith, an Austin, TX-based multi-instrumentalist, with whom she wrote her third full-length effort, Kindred, a sparse, experimental, electronica-based effort recorded in an old house in Wilmette, IL with contributions from Steve Moore, who has worked with Tift Merritt and Laura Veirs and Dony Wynn, who has worked with the legendary Robert Plant.

Inspired by a volunteer trip to Kenya that led her to an African fingerpicking class at the Old Town School of Folk Music and studying for an MFA in Poetry at North Carolina’s Warren Wilson College, Gillespie found her sound and songwriting approach expanding and becoming more refined. By the fall of 2011, she traveled to NYC to record the EP Belita with Shazard Ismaily, a multi-instrumentalist who has worked with Lou Reed, Bonnie Prince Billy, and St. Vincent. Interestingly, that effort possesses elements of pop, folk music, African and Asian rhythms and tones.

Featuring contributions from Emmett Kelly (Bonnie Prince Billy) on guitar and Joe Adamik (Califone, Iron and Wine) on drums, her last full-length effort Chamma was released to critical praise, including landing on Billboard Magazine‘s Top 25 Albums of 2014 List. Naturally, that has seen Gillespie’s profile grow nationally — and continuing on that buzz, the singer/songwriter is set to release Chamma‘s follow-up, Cure for Dreaming through Narooma Records at the end of the month.  Recorded over the past couple of months and featuring contributions from Paul Bryan (Aimee Mann), drummer Jay Bellerose (Robert Plant and Allison Krauss’ Raising Sand), guitarist Chris Bruce (Meshell Ndgeocello), guitarist Gerry Leonard (David Bowie), and pedal steel player Greg Leisz (Lucinda Williams, Bon Iver), the album  reportedly possesses elements of folk, progressive jazz, and 60s and 70s AM pop.

The album’s first single “No Stone” paired Gillespie’s unhurried and husky vocals with a spacious and subtly jazz-like arrangement of keys, guitar, bass, gently buzzing electronics and hushed drumming in a song that felt as intimate as a lover whispering sweet nothings in your ear. And at the song’s core was a conversational lyricism that possessed a novelist’s attention to detail — both physical and psychological — as you can picture a woman who hides her face by the ocean, cherry blossoms in bloom, and someone peering through a keyhole to see a depressed woman struggling to just start her day. And as a result the song’s narrator feels like a fully-fleshed out person, desperately struggling to push forward.
The album’s second and latest single “Part Potawatomi” pairs Gillespie’s unhurried and ethereal vocals with a hummable melody, a deceptively simple arrangement of guitar, drums, bass and ambient electronics that sonically bears a resemblance to Junip — and their frontman, Jose Gonzalez‘s solo work.  And much like much like the album’s first single “No Stone,” “Part Potawatomi” reveals a Gillespie’s remarkable attention to detail, as the song frankly discusses the slow and seemingly inevitable dissolution of a romantic relationship metaphorically described as a storm brewing over the shore. The song’s narrator seems to evoke the sensation of being trapped in a relationship that’s going nowhere out of familial and moral obligation — and as a result, the song possesses a subtle yet increasing feeling of frustration and regret, while being one of the more beautiful songs I’ve heard in the past 10 days.

 

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Blaccout Garrison is a Minnesota based singer/songwriter and emcee, who has started to receive attention on this site and across the blogosphere for his Hungry Soulful EP, which has the Minnesotan artist collaboration with the likes of Jackson, WY-based emcee Abstract and Chicago-based R&B vocalist and singer/songwriter The Elle. Now, if you’ve been frequenting this site over the past few months, you may recall that I wrote about “Strawberry Cheesecake Dessert.” Produced by Dthr33, the song featured the use of a familiar and beloved sample to real hip-hop heads — the soulful and jazzy sample that comprises A Tribe Called Quest‘s “Bonita Applebum paired with The Elle’s soulful and seductive hook, as Garrison and Abstract trade old-school inspired verses about the women they love. And fittingly, much like the old school hip-hop sample, the emcees rhyme about their loves in charmingly old school terms as they describe how strong, stunning and smart their loves are, and how they both want to treat their loves as the queens and goddesses that the emcees know their ladies are.

Certainly, in an age in which contemporary mainstream artists have openly referred to women in disparaging and ugly terms, hearing such old-school sentiment is not just much-needed it’s refreshingly sweet.

Produced by P-Soul, Garrison’s latest single “Wishing On A Star” pairs a subtly chopped up old-timey, twinkling piano sample, boom-bap drum programming with The Elle’s effortlessly soulful vocals singing the song’s introductory verses and hook as Garrison rhymes about overcoming life’s frustrations and obstacles while being focused on one’s dreams. It’s positive, thoughtful and deeply soulful music — and in an age of soulless, cynically calculated, prepackaged music such thoughtful and earnest music is needed now more than ever before.

 

 

 

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

 

Although little is known about the Kent, WA-based trio So Pitted, the trio have started to receive attention for a sludgy and abrasive sound that some critics have compared favorably to Nirvana, Metz, Pere Ubu and others. “feed me,” the latest single off the band’s forthcoming album neo will further cement their burgeoning reputation as the band pairs sludgy and acidic guitar chords, layers upon layers of feedback, thundering and propulsive drumming, industrial clang and clatter and distorted vocals in a song that sounds as though it drew influence from Ministry.

The band will be on tour throughout January and February to build up buzz for the album. Check out the tour dates below.

Tour Dates
Jan. 09 – Boston – The Sinclair *
Jan. 11 – Washington, D.C. – Rock & Roll Hotel *
Jan. 12 – Philadelphia, PA – First Unitarian Church *
Mar. 04 – Paris, FR – Mecanique Ondulatoire
Mar. 05 – Amsterdam, NL – Butcher’s Tears
Mar. 07 – London, UK – The Shacklewell Arms
Mar. 08 – Leeds, UK – Brudenell Games Room
Mar. 10 – Lille, UK – La Peniche
Mar. 11 -Brussells, BE – Homepluged
Mar. 12 – Berlin, DE – West Germany
Mar. 15 – Austin, TX – SXSW
Mar. 16 – Austin, TX – SXSW
Mar. 17 – Austin, TX – SXSW
Mar. 18 – Austin, TX – SXSW
Mar. 19 – Austin, TX – SXSW
Mar. 20 – Austin, TX – SXSW
* w/ METZ + Bully

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

As the story goes, Flower‘s frontman and primary songwriter Jack Fowler wrote the band’s forthcoming album Waste of Life while in the middle of a holding pattern. Although he had a rather busy year as the frontman of exwhy, with the band signing to Other People Records and touring with Pujol and Knox Hamilton, Fowler desperately wanted to focus on revealing his vulnerable side; in fact, the album is inspired largely by Fowler’s own experience of being an office drone. As Fowler explains in press notes “I was working a pretty decent office job and doing absolutely nothing beyond working and getting depressed. I was just spinning my wheels and growing bored and really depressed. I was struggling with talking to people, being social at all. That’s the core of this album—anxiety and not being sure how to define yourself. ”

Waste of Life‘s latest single “Dreams” possesses a pent up frustration over ambitions, hopes and a life that seem indefinitely stalled from some larger, unmoving (and unrelenting), outside force and not having an idea as to what would be the best thing to do next; so the song’s narrator winds up sitting inert and inactive on the sidelines out of fear of fucking everything up — and yet, hating himself for his inability to do anything at all. And despite the song’s desperation and hopelessness, there’s a subtle sense of hope; that things will get better and that somehow life will push you in the direction you need to be going.

Sonically, the band pairs bitter and confused sentiment and anthemic hooks with layers of shimmering guitar and  driving rhythms in a song that sounds as though it draws influence from The Smiths and 80s post-punk. Much like the previous post, Flower’s sound is something that should sound warmly familiar to anyone who grew up in the 80s — but it manages to place that sound and feeling in high contemporary context, proving that the more things change, the more things wind up the same.

 

 

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Comprised of Austin Knecht, Tamara Simons, Crystal Napoles, Kai Dodson and Joey Felkins, the up-and-coming Ventura, CA-based dream pop quintet Curtsy have started to receive attention across the blogosphere with the release of “One Less Thing,” a shimmering bit of guitar-led pop  that pairs a driving rhythm with anthemic hooks and gorgeous, ethereal harmonies that manages to sound as though it draws from classic shoegaze and 120 Minutes-era alt rock. Sure, their sound is warmly familiar to my ears, and it will be familiar to anyone who grew up in the 80s and 90s — but they manage a heart wrenching sincerity that will likely bring back memories when we are all a bit more idealistic and a lot less cynical.

 

 

 

 

 

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

 

Born in rural Vermont and currently based in Atlanta, GA, Nick Takenobu Ogawa is a classically trained cellist and composer, who writes, records and performs under the moniker Takénobu. As the story goes, Ogawa was raised in an extremely small town with a population of about 1,000 residents — and as a result, the cellist and composer grew up playing in the woods, since he had no next-door neighbors and had no cable TV. His parents were professors at Middlebury College, and when Ogawa turned 6, they introduced him to cello, and he took private lessons and practiced religiously until he had turned 18. But after 12 years of study and orchestral playing, Ogawa began veering away from classical music and started focusing on a self-taught style of play that borrowed techniques from his guitar playing and composition based on a variety of roots and world music influences.

Ogawa moved to Kyoto, Japan, where he spent a year experimenting and cultivating his unique playing style and sound — until he had suffered a wrist injury from intense practice. He then wound up attending Haverford College in Philadelphia where he graduated with thoughts of entering law school; however, instead of studying for the LSAT’s and preparing applications, Ogawa moved to Vancouver, BC, where he recorded his full-length debut album. He then moved to Brooklyn and won the 2006 Williamsburg Live singer/songwriter competition and with the winnings he was able to release his 2007 debut effort, Introduction. The album was released to favorable reviews but didn’t gain much exposure.

Frustrated and despondent, Ogawa was close to giving up on pursuing music. But just before his own deadline, the Vermont-born, Atlanta, GA-based cellist and composer submitted his debut effort to Pandora. And ironically enough, just as he was about to give up was the exact moment that he started to see increasing press attention and commercial success; in fact, thanks to Pandora’s recommendation algorithm, in the four year period between 2007-2011, Introduction received enough streams and sales that Ogawa was able to focus on music full-time, releasing three more full-length album. Adding to a steadily growing national profile, Ogawa’s music has received airplay on NPR‘s Morning Edition, has opened for Kishi Bashi and performed and arranged cello on Dessa‘s “It’s Only Me.”  

Reversal, Ogawa’s fifth full-length effort is slated for a February 12, 2016 release and the album’s first single “Curtain Call” pairs a gorgeous and moody cello composition with Ogawa’s achingly plaintive vocals singing about a relationship that has come to an inevitable conclusion, and both sides have recognized that they have to part — perhaps forever. Sonically speaking the song employs the use of several different layers of cello to create a lush and yet spectral arrangement that emphasizes the melancholy sense of acceptance at the core of the song.