"Dance Til the Morning": New Single From Tall Shaves
Photo Courtesy of Tall Shaves
Perhaps this won’t come as a shock to those who know me well, but I adore having a good time. I adore being in the thick of things. If the environment is right and the company is good, I will never want the party to end. I live for those little liminal moments, the spaces in between the highs and lows of life that let me cut loose and just be. Some of my favorite memories are of going out with my friends in college, going dancing when we weren’t in the mood, when the music was so loud it probably gave me a touch of tinnitus, when my feet ached from the heels, when the bands rocked so hard I forgot everything else but their lyrics, when the bars were so warm and welcoming that I forgot I wasn’t at home. Alas, now I’m on the bad side of 25, and though I still suffer from bouts of nervous energy that scream at me to go out, to do something, I find more often than not that I just...stay home. I could be sad about it. Or, as Tall Shaves insists, I could start making some new memories when the opportunities present themselves.
“Dance Til the Morning” is the latest single to come from my favorite alternative folk group, and boy is it a rollicking good time. It reminds me of the time they closed down Philadelphia for the Pope, and all the roads were closed but the bars were open and my friends and I had a wonderful evening in a bar that looked more like a french cafe. It makes me think of the time we found a cozy spot in a welcoming pub on St. Patrick’s Day, where I learned that you’re only young once so you might as well mix your Guinness with your Jameson. It reminds me of when I found myself channeling my inner Hemingway in my very own clean, well-lighted place. But better than that, it reminds me that not only am I still young, but that I have the time to find more of these moments, “live those nights so full of life”, and that when I do, I should “dance ‘til the morning light.”
Kieran and Paige are absolutely killing it with their instrumentation. First of all, this is probably the most folksy they’ve sounded, which is amazing. This song sounds like the kind of tune I would sing in a pub with friends, our trials and tribulations forgotten. The impending doom of age and time is postponed over a beer and good company.
From the opening banjo to the soft plucking of the bass, from the hauntingly sweet violin to the energizing drums that reverb within my breastbone, it all forms the most beautiful picture of youth briefly recaptured. How can I describe the whirlwind that comes during the bridge, when Paige chants “Have one more drink for me,” as Kieran (perhaps acting as the voice of reality) responds with “Can we go home please?”
As the tempo grows faster and faster, it feels like the room begins to spin, or perhaps I'm dancing and the spinning is just a joyous celebration of life, being here, being in the now. Tall Shaves is at the height of their power when it comes to making me confront things that probably should make me sad, and instead putting a positive spin on it. Their music has never been more invigorating.
And of course, how can I talk about a Tall Shaves song without discussing how wonderful Kieran and Paige’s vocals are? Paige’s vocals are just as haunting as ever, soft and sweet, but this song also gives her the opportunity to really belt in a kind of joyous frenzy. Kieran is the perfect balance to this, the strong and steady voice that ultimately rises to join Paige in a last rousing chorus. Once more they seem to have struck a golden harmony, with voices that seem perfectly suited to each other. It seems only fair that their vocals mirror the balance that their lyrics call for, in accepting your age while not allowing it to stop you from enjoying yourself.
The beauty of this song is that it perfectly mixes the bitter and the sweet of growing older, losing those nights, and learning how to recapture some small part of their essence again. Yes, you grow older, yes suddenly the music is too loud, the bar too crowded, the drinks too expensive. Yes, the nights feel longer than before, and someone (it may even be you) is suddenly asking to leave before 11:30. But this song is a call to action: don’t grow old before your time. And if you are old, don’t for the love of God let your soul age. Moments appear when they will. It’s up to you to spot them and hold on to them for the time you’re given. It’s not as hard as it may seem...all you have to do is be open to life.
