Silver Liz – Dream More Vivid
As we speak, about a million musicians are writing Reddit posts detailing all of the ways in which they feel sorry for themselves, and angry at the world that’s spurned them. Keep it up, and you can add metal guitarists to the list of dangerous groups that governments need to keep an eye out for fear that they’ll start torching theatres, clubs and concert halls.
But why is the world so mean when you can play the solo to “Mr Crowley” while sitting on your head? Why does the world not appreciate the thousands of hours required to even get to consider doing that? Because that sounds boring. Music’s moved on, and while musicians, like the members of Silver Liz, are very much still needed, ideally, they also have the good taste to pick and choose from a wide variety of sources.
In doing so, Silver Liz and the frighteningly few bands like them aren’t just picking sounds, choosing and blending feelings together. That’s what “Dream More Vivid” sounds like. It feels like your Spotify account is getting tangled up in all that Swedish tech and mangling songs together.
But, unlike that scenario, what makes “Dream More Vivid” worth soaking up is the human intelligence at play, the choices made by the musicians, and the way that they know how to make you feel a certain way. And, if that does not sound compelling, there’s a street performer playing Ozzy tunes and spinning plates just around the street corner, probably. There always is.
Cotton Caves – Afraid
The world’s terrified of the future. You talk to random people on the street, in random cities, and they are paralysed by a fear that they can’t even name. And, pretty soon, you’ll see riots for undefined ideals like “happiness,” “love of nature”, or “more parking spaces.”
That’s terrific if you’re a music fan, though! Get enough talented people into a sense of crippling anxiety, and there’s no way of knowing how many great songs we’re going to get. The only real problem, of course, will be to make sure that they get out of bed in the morning.
Pop music has lied to us for a long time. That’s why Cotton Caves feels like a nice change of pace. Like some politician up for re-election, pop music has told us that things can only go up, that progress can exist forever, and that we should be hopeful.
We’re not having it anymore! Cotton Caves’s “Afraid” is not just a pretty ditty, a sweet indie-pop song created by someone who knows their way around a nice melody and the features of a DAW. It’s an anthem! We’re petrified, and we’re done pretending to be brave! Someone ought to start holding us right now, or else! The world doesn’t make any sense, and we don’t even know why! “Afraid” puts the feelings of millions into words and sound.
