SONG OF
THE DAY
– UPDATED WEEKLY –
8/31 -
“I Go” Peggy
Gou
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As Gou stated, “I Go” is Korean for being surprised in both “a good, and a bad way,” and stems from 80’s and 90’s musical inspirations while being in lockdown. She also mentions how the phrase indicates “going” somewhere in English “no matter what,” (as in exploring or traveling somewhere new.)
If travel limitations had the travel bug in you down, let this video be your next little guide (or middle finger) to being a hostage in this abundant world full of total adventure for a year (f*&#!)
Gou orchestrates, as her intergalactic, space cadet, captain self in the music video; a perfect cacophony of happy, dancing animals (like a post-modern Noah’s Arc.)
Peggy Gou is an aura of good vibes. One must want to ask her, the meaning behind her tattoos. Her art flows within her and throughout her; between her live sets and through her fashion modeling (check out her IG!)
Gou's vocals are insatiable. I can’t wait to hear what she puts out next.
Dance it out in the club with the ladies to this song or her first big hit, “Starry Night”, and report back to me in the morning.
3/11 - ‘Satin Psychedelic’ Sunni
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Poetic and often jammy, Sunni Colon provides us with angelic sounds parallelling from a vast range of artists to the likes of Blood Orange, Steve Lacey, and a little dash of Miguel. Sunni has the ability to incorporate a wide range of soundscapes in ‘Satin Psicodelic’, comprised of only 7 tracks. Sunni’s soft, soprano voice is layered on edgy, relaxing bass guitar chords as well as some energetic guitar riffs and piano. Although bearing similarities to the artists listed above, the sound is completely unique. [Side note: Art influences art and it is inevitable that artists may resemble other artists, but the purpose is not to validate a given artist, devalue them, or make them any less original.]
Sunni gives us a safe place with his music. He doesn’t shy from engineering a feeling — which to me is the excitement that comes from love. He has a surprisingly consistent way of mixing different chord progressions and time measures in one song, sometimes two, three, even four times, all while managing to keep it smooth and in count. Kind of like the way someone would calm or reassure us during uncertainty. A steady flow of reassurance.
At the end of Guava, Sunni says the following in spoken word:
“You always actin-
like I can’t feel.
Neglecting my existence,
like, my emotions,
just as tangible
as your skin
and these tears
that you don’t seem to see.
Love is not a fantasy,
love, love,
love is not a fantasy.”
Poignant and raw, Sunni is reciting the heavy emotions we sometimes feel when in love. Love is terrifyingly beautiful and painful at the same time. We not only begin to feel deeply aware of another’s existence with love’s presence, but we begin to become aware of our own selves more deeply. If we off-kilter that awareness of ourselves, and rely on the attentiveness of our partner, love can become a dangerous game. Sunni captures a moment with these words. He is expressing that he is human and has feelings, and that love is both the cause and solution.
In the seventh and last song on the album, Satin PSICODELIC, Sunni repeats: “I want to make you feel, want to do to you, what you do to me,” 27 times. The song is wildly intoxicating amid salsa-like percussion and playful piano.
3/22 - “The Promise”
The Golden Boy (Walker & Royce Remix)
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If this song were a feeling, it would be a warm embrace.
I discovered this song from Darius @ Cité de la Mode et du Design in Paris, France for Cercle.
If you enjoy house music, I highly recommend. Darius sneaks this song in at around 27 minutes, ebbing the crowd into a conversational, easy zone. You can see two girls laughing and playfully dancing. Darius takes a break to drink something. After one of the drops, Darius takes a second to raise his hands to recognize his guests and reaches out to a gentleman behind him, unified in a feeling. Enjoyment fills the air joining some unanticipated drops that are not necessarily heavy and abrupt like most, but nuanced and peaceful.
Walker & Royce compliment the entirety of the song with their echo-y percussions and lovingly soothing backdrops. A remix, I pray, is only “good” if it compliments the original somehow. That’s what we get with this song, along with much, much more.
The song is tender and the lyrics are kind. It’s nothing but a warm embrace.
Trust me, if this could help me during a pandemic, it would hopefully help you too.
9/5 - “Lil Thing” Knox Fortune
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One evening after work, my roommate began playing “Lil Thing” on a tiny speaker; a lil thing she had found while unpacking and realized could light up different colors and play music – the coolest! Although the speaker was old and the quality was not a punch, the song had instantly entrapped itself in my repertoire.
“It’s the summer, and I’m at it again
She my lil thing, gets me out of the jam
Do your lil thing, put it all in the air
Show me something, they don’t need to know what we do,”
In an interview with Genius, Knox explains how the theme of Summer was suggested by Joey Purp. Without a doubt, it instantly sets a tone, providing imagery and/or a sense of what the summer brings – whether it be a vibrant, sunny neighborhood, the beach, or a sense of freedom, the feeling is unfailingly evoked. Knox also explains how the word “jam” is a term coined in Chicago (as he claims, humorously) as a personal qualm of sorts. His summer love is there to help him escape from his problems.
It’s an easy (somewhat cliché) motif to sing about a summer love, yet difficult to imagine any other choice of lyrics on this specific beat. The edginess of the drums and synths provide a rhythm analogous to a wave on the beach, ebbing to and fro in peaceful synchronicity.
“Lil Thing” is an enjoyable breath of fresh air, even if it’s playing off a janky speaker — and that speaks volumes. Listen here.
2/27 - “Try Again”
Andy Shauf
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Through his keen observations disguised as descriptive lyrics, Andy Shauf tenderly provides us with the equivalent of hearing the words dance off a novel. Shauf is the protagonist while friends, acquaintances, and past relationships are introduced to us through an immersive interpretation of events.
The Neon Skyline, Shauf’s most recent debut album, takes us on a journey surrounding friendship, love, drunkenness, and everything in between.
“Try Again” is a cheery, optimistic, and humorous latter point in the album. It leads us to a night involving a lover’s quarrel where the listener can’t help but be inexplicitly included.
“Somewhere between drunkenness and sincerity,
I smile at her for just a little too long,”
Despite drunkenness, there still remain human traits that are more or less hidden when we are sober. In “Try Again”, these traits begin with chivalry, gradually turning into jealousy, and eventually into brutal honesty.
It is a succinct story of old love and our attempts at rekindling this connection, salvaging a friendship, or saying goodbye for good. The act of rekindling an old love is tenuous, yet hopeful. This theme is sung determinately in the chorus: “C’mon baby, try again,”
We are hanging on a thread by the end (a common motif in Shauf’s music). Regardless, it’s a celebration of catching up and still being sweet despite it all. We are taken to a place of post-forgiveness — and this is… ok. We can forgive and be ok in the end.
Listen to “Try Again” by Andy Shauf on Spotify.
12/9 - ‘DAMN’
Kencrick Lamar
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It was my second to last month of my last semester of college. ‘Damn’ was released on a Sunday, but I didn’t listen to it until Friday. It was the end of a tedious, pressing week of finals and studying. I decided to sit down at my desk and play ‘Damn’ in full. Halfway through the album and halfway off my seat I had to head out. I grabbed my phone, downloaded it, and closed my front door in heavy anticipation of finishing the album in my car. In FEAR, the lyrics “God daaaamn yoooouuu,” seem a perfect, although somewhat self-serving way to explain the album in its entirety. God damn you, Kendrick…
•••
Easily one of the most established and embellished contemporary rappers in the game, if you are unaware of the album ‘Damn’, you’ve most likely heard Kendrick from his songs Backseat Freestyle or Swimming Pools (Drank) from his album ‘good kid, m.A.A.d. City’ released in 2012.
Following his release in 2015, To Pimp a Butterfly—a jazzy, ferocious album that challenged the status quo of his first release—Kendrick dropped Damn two years later.
Addressing “LOVE”, “PRIDE”, “FEAR”, and “LOYALTY” with steady meaning throughout his lyrics, Kendrick is not one to be reckoned with when it comes to being a lyrical genius. Not only a lyrical genius, a creative one as well. Watch his iconic music video for “HUMBLE”. with over 400 million views.
A few months after the release of ‘Damn’, Kendrick had the audacity to release a second version with the song list in reverse order. Not only was this downright irreverent, it sparked interest in all of us to consider the meaning behind his songs and with a different order to the songs, it fueled a new perspective. I don’t know about you, but when an artist emphasizes depth and meaning (and story) in their lyrics, I am more likely to consider them an “artist” in all of the word’s definition.
Damn was awarded a Grammy for best rap album.
5/6 - “I Feel This Place” Goldensuns
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Goldensuns released their first EP “Give It Up” in 2016. I Feel This Place consists of the four total songs on “Give it Up”.
I Feel This Place begins with a lovely, underwater organ sound that does such a wonderful job of building us up. This modulated sound guides us into soft echoing vocals and a steady, inviting beat. (It’s Joy Division, but more New Order.)
It is nostalgic shoegaze. The title emulates a perfect concept. Feeling yourself in ones surroundings. Enjoying the “place” you are in, and embracing the feeling one place may provide.
One of the lyrics (allegedly) states “Casually, I found my love”, I believe… though it has proven difficult to decipher that last word, but the sentiment is there.
“I feel this place
I’m wide awake,
more than ever.”
We get Kobain-esque vocals that sound like the narration of an extravagant dream. Emulliant bridges and a dreamy conclusion leave us expecting the triumphant drums to reappear and take us back to the catchy melody. Instead, the song lets us go peacefully; like letting a fish back into the sea.
Listen to Goldensuns’ “I Feel This Place” here.
1/2 “Love Cats” - The Cure
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The cure does a phenomenal job of juxtaposing love with madness in this song released in 1983.
“Into the sea
You and me
All these years and no one heard
I'll show you in spring
It's a treacherous thing
"We missed you", hissed the lovecats,”
Robert Smith who sings, plays the piano, and guitar, has impeccable rhythm. He goes as far as to demonstrate this to you in the music video (have to love an 80’s music video!) where taxidermy cats are a motif.
We have to wonder if this song is innuendo for women, which are commonly described as “cats”. Think about it… this was the 80’s. Women didn’t exactly have the words “girl boss” being used to describe them (which is a shame.) Someone from this era correct me if I’m wrong! (I’m a 90’s kid, so I’m living the #metoo era but also addicted to technology.)
Anyway, “Love Cats” is perfect to play on the record player and dance to during a rainy day. Cats are invited.
4/6 - ‘Superstar’
Caroline Rose
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Filled with personality and an impressionable flare, Caroline Rose’s new album, ‘Superstar’ includes song titles such as Nothing’s Impossible and Pipe Dreams. It’s so LA. Her authenticity is not forced in any way, and her voice is like a catalyst for that afternoon boost of self confidence we didn’t know we needed.
The first song by Caroline Rose that completely took me away was Soul No. 5 on her album, ‘Loner’ (2018). The second song being Feel The Way I Want, which she pre-released before ‘Superstar’, does an excellent job of setting a precedence for the album. Rose is a free spirit. The theme of the album surrounds leaving our past lives for something new, which is further presented in the second song off the album; Got to Go My Own Way.
The album is embellished by uniqueness, individualism, and fortitude — all in the name of self-discovery. It takes us on Rose’s somewhat dizzying, sometimes discouraging, but ultimately jovial journey to fame: the ups, the downs, and all the in-betweens.
One of the songs that stuck in my head days after the first listen was Freak Like Me, the sixth song on the album:
“My love is a split-level home
A brick through a broken window
A real sordid sideshow feature
My love is a skin-tight suit
A tattered overcoat with steel-toed combat boots.”
The lyrics are ambiguous — we question the line, but it’s hers. On a similar note, this is a common motif of the album. There is always uncertainty and doubt on the route to fame. Rose may be alluding to this on the last song of the album, I Took A Ride.