Ceylon Sailor – Sold Me Down
The worst thing that you can do with any kind of trauma is to simply keep it in your head. As it turns out, the Hollywood model of the strong, silent hero that never complains about anything and doesn’t rely on anyone to solve their problems is just one more ideal that will mess you up irrevocably. If you want to solve old problems, you need to approach them, you need to speak about, and you need, if possible, to get a sense of humor about it.
And, while that’s easier said than done, what you will also need, most certainly, is some kind of soundtrack. Something like Ceylon Sailor’s music will likely fit well. And, you may find that this is the most affordable and efficient of therapies. Every day, millions of people are gently easing some of their troubles, some of their ancient aches, using melodies, poetry, songs to put everything into perspective.
Ceylon Sailor’s “Sold Me Down” is a really sweet song about sour times. It’s a song that’s heavy on the pretty melodies rather than on the remembrances of pain and bruises. But, make no mistake about it, they are there. The songwriter has just found a way to smile about it, to convince themselves that this is just the way things go, that hearts fall apart more often than they come together. And, hearing this, doesn’t it make your own heart a little lighter?
Moon Mother – It Comes With Shadows
Ideally, you’re supposed to keep your eyes peeled open from the moment that you wake until the moment that your head hits the pillow. That is, at least, what all of the figures of authority in your life would prefer you to do.
There’s no closing your eyes while you’re in school, church, or at your job. Of course, you shouldn’t close your eyes while operating heavy machinery. And, if you dare shut your eyes while speaking to someone you know, they’ll most likely stop being your friend.
But reality is a hard thing to take if you can’t work on imagining it in a novel way. And, thankfully, there are still a few things in this world, like Moon Mother’s music, that encourage you to dream up the world as it could be, and that brings you closer to something that moves you toward something ceremonial, and possibly holy.
It may well be that there are great truths in those frightening silences up in the North. And, it may well be that Swedish duo Moon Mother have picked up on just what the frequencies to receive those secrets are. “It Comes With Shadows” is a moody folk-rock celebration of the great unknown, and of the hope that there’s something greater in there than we can ever assume.
