Weekend Round Up: New Releases From Grimes, Purity Ring, and Jet Black Alley Cat
Miss us? We’re taking a break and cooking up a brand new season of Rhapsody in Reverie for you! But until that magical day when we return to the podcasting airwaves, we couldn’t resist talking music shop with the world. We’re sharing a few of the new songs that came out this past weekend that we couldn’t get enough of! Read on below to hear some of co-host Adrienne’s favorites of the moment!
“Rewind” By Jet Black Alley Cat
The first Jet Black Alley Cat song I ever heard was “Golden” and I instantly fell in love with it. Now, here we are with “Rewind” and again it was instant infatuation. “Rewind” is a love letter to John Hughes in the best way possible. The Nashville-based band has mastered the polished sheen of 80s music on this track, pairing so well with its lyrical content. While I may not have been alive in the 1980s, the nostalgia poured into this song just washes over me from the second the beat begins and the synths play a yearning and reflective riff. “Rewind” is a coming of age song for the modern era, primed to find a home on the soundtrack for the next classic teen movie or TV drama. The spirit at the heart of “Rewind” resonates in all of us, I imagine - that feeling of watching your life rush by you and wondering what it might be like to reclaim a past youth. Growing up is a disorienting task to undertake, we fluctuate between condemning and glorifying our past selves as the years go by. Even when we are forced to, letting go of that past never happens in an instant and it takes time to accept the changes. “Rewind” seems to offer up a space for a final resigned farewell to what once was. One last moment of denial before surrendering to the opening of a new chapter in time. There are no answers or fixes here, only a bittersweet acknowledgment that the past is just that - past.
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“You’ll Miss Me When I’m Not Around” By Grimes
You know, for a dark song about death and suicidal ideation, it is still so peaceful and beautiful. Lines like “If you don’t bleed then you don’t die” carry so much weight and lead you down deep existential questions about life and suffering, which doesn’t sound very pleasant at face value. Yet, Grimes is a master at her craft and “You’ll Miss Me When I’m Not Around” expertly balances the heavy subject matter with her spritely vocals and her signature production style that is equal parts adorable and punchy. At the core of the track though is the main hook, “You’ll Miss Me When I’m Not Around”. The sentiment is a universal truth - we don’t fully appreciate someone until they are no longer with us. Grimes, who is often subject to intense criticism and ridicule as a prominent artist and public figure, is no doubt acutely aware of this reality and her intimate rumination on this topic in the lyrics of “You’ll Miss Me When I’m Not Around” almost seem to hold a mirror up to us as listeners and the unforgiving public, prompting us to ask ourselves who we aren’t appreciating in our own lives. And further, who will appreciate us in our absence.
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“Stardew” By Purity Ring
Oh, I am so happy Purity Ring is back! After a good five years since their last album was released, they are releasing new music again and when I first heard the new track “Stardew,” I listened to this song and Vocalist Megan James’s mesmerizing voice on a loop for like an hour. True to Purity Ring form, “Stardew” makes me feel like I am floating in the air above the earth, suspended among the planets and the stars. However, there is a quiet intimacy to this song that sounds refreshing, elevating their signature style to new heights. From the second the piano opens the song, you are reeled in instantly. Magical and beautiful, “Stardew” seems to embody an overwhelming closeness between lovers with vibrant imagery and James’s vulnerable delivery. I want to believe in a world as pure and light as the world of this song. I want to melt inside the lines and lyrics of “Stardew”, mix in its colors and feel safe in its embrace. “Stardew” is a sweet dream, teeming with beauty and shaking you alive.
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