Orange Element – Don’t Leave Easy
Similar artists: Radiohead, Wunderhorse, The Black Keys, The Smashing Pumpkins
Genre: Indie Rock, Alternative Rock
No matter how hard things ever get in life, remember that there is likely a recipe for your problems. It’s been recorded, written down in books, or sold in courses. There’s a whole industry designed to improve the very aspect that your life lacks, and you access it and then practice the knowledge anytime that you wish. Hooray!
It’s easy to get cynical about these kinds of things. But remember that the vast majority of your predecessors on this increasingly hotter planet did not have access to such wisdom.
Music-making, naturally, is one of the first things to profit from information being so widely available. As with most types of modern art, there’s a formula that is readily available should you wish to put your signature on it. Would that satisfy you, though?
Orange Element’s “Don’t Leave Easy” proves that this ambitious alt-rock band wouldn’t be happy to simply drive a vehicle built by others. Yes, they are inspired by alt-rock luminaries of the 1990s. But their goal, by the sounds of it, is to experiment with sound and bend it to their will until they find something more important – themselves. There’s no formula for that yet, and the search is on!
Kai Tak x Draag – Jalen Rose
Similar artists: Curve, Tamaryn
Genre: Shoegaze
Great modern music helps make us heroes of our own stories, even if the feeling has to eventually wear off. Yes, there are things with which the same emotions could have been conquered in the past. Rarely, however, were they available to everyone. In that sense, modern music is an emotional support that many of our ancestors could’ve only imagined having.
I suppose art has always held this secret power. But, throughout most eras, the people who could access it needed to be rich, well-connected, or possess a wonderful education.
I assume that being madly in love could make one feel the same way. However, speaking truthfully, we know that this is a blessing and curse that befalls only a few people.
Kai Tak x Draag’s “Jalen Rose” is a shoegaze-inspired song that has the quality of making whoever hears this and is willing to lend their attention feel that whatever is happening in the world is occurring because and for them. It’s no wonder that the song was inspired by long, night-time walks. It channels that freedom of the spirit and lends those feelings to whoever wants to have them.
