The Band – Whispering Pines
This song is perfect, whether you zone out and fall in love with it or dissect any one part. Also, a shoutout to Garth Hudson on the keys. He’s the glittery glue on this one, weaving in and out with some of the most magical sounds on record.
Amanaz – Khala My Friend
Our bassist was living in Bangkok when Max and I were beginning to write our debut album, The Light Upon the Lake. He sent over this song one day and Max and I couldn’t get over how the out-of-tune bass actually lifts the song up. The melody and tone of the vocals are incredibly mesmerising and inspiring to me. Khala and Sunday Morning definitely helped shape the sound of our demos.
Allen Toussaint – Southern Nights
To me, Southern Nights is a glowing example of the immense power of vocal melody. Toussaint’s voice carries so much of the song on its shoulders. It allows the arrangement to flutter and kind of mosey along, and yet the song still prevails in the most incredible way. He sounds like a seven-year-old running through a forest of hanging moss and fireflies. Rest in peace to the legend.
NRBQ – Magnet
Our new guitarist showed me this song recently. Something that I have become obsessed with when writing is the beauty of simplicity and instrumental dialogue. Magnet is a perfect representation of those ideas. Although mostly led by piano, the guitar in this song is essential and subtle, the piano arrangement is perfect and the two instruments weave in and out in the most thoughtful yet emotional way. The song is split – the instrumentation is unbelievably uplifting, while the lyrics describe the impossibility of a relationship, a theme Julien and I have explored in our music as well. We were driving through central Oregon yesterday and I listened to this song at least five times in a row to try to figure out how all of the instrumentation was moving around. For such a simple set-up, the song shows unbelievable depth.
Mulatu Astatke – Tezeta (Nostalgia)
This song is pure vibe. You can hear the room it was recorded in and everything is perfect; fidelity, performance, emotion. There are stories about the piano player on this track (her name is Emahoy Tsegué-Maryam Guèbrou – if you are a fan of this check out her Piano Solo album on YouTube) having healing abilities through her music. In this song, Astatke plays in such a calming way. I have put this song on in Chicago at a late-night party and for friends who live in the country and both were amazed. I think it is a testament to the track’s appeal: druggy yet beautiful, complex but simple, the song glides between settings and is a very inspiring piece of music.
