Feb 2022 indiepop jangle capochallenge
@vomvorton - Anya asked if I wanted to collab on this song at the end of last year, when it was a single verse that needed expanding (IIRC). But it was "not February" and so I did nothing at all. Thankfully when FAWM rolled around she still let me help out with it, and I love how it turned out! I added extra guitar, synth, backing vox and tweaked the arrangement a bit (filtery lofi drums etc).
@frenchcricket i had an idea to do a song at the end of last year poking fun at those round robin letters that used to be a thing. But then i ended up almost identifying with the senders of such missives. I think they have a bit of pathos about them. Plus it's so easy to overcompensate when you have to be perfect all the time.
i hope that this does find you well, a strange electric madrigal
i’ve not caught you and yours for so long
yes it really has been too long
this winter sapped our wakefulness
umbrellas always shaking us
god, listen to my voice keep droning on
far outside of the confines of a song
it’s really been a time you know
so let me show you how it goes:
a long and dreary journey by the window
with each and every season ending knee high in snow
and there’s no calling halt in the afternoon
stuck under leaves and that same cursed moon
my darling boy’s so strong and tall, come see our new retaining wall
the hydrangeas are just about to bloom
brushing water off the petals like the gloom
DH’s got the bug at last (not golf this time, norovirus)
but we’re still chipper, not to speak too soon
no finer company, a company of fools
but it’s really been a time you know
so let me tell you how it all goes:
a long and dreary journey by the window
with each and every season driving knee high in snow
and there’s no calling halt in the afternoon
stuck under leaves and that same cursed moon
@amusia Mar 2022
Great song idea and certainly far more entertaining than having to read one of those letters! I really like the mix of mundane details and poetic language. The overall upbeat yet melancholy vibe is great. My favorite part is before the chorus where everything drops out, then builds back up on the offbeat. Your voices blend so well on the chorus. Nice collaboration!
@mikedebenham Mar 2022
'wakefullness/shaking us' - nice. Lovely stuff, you two. Good jangle. The satire only seems to have survived in the darling boy verse, elsewhere you've gone and let your damn empathy make it poignant.
@fourzeroes Mar 2022
This is really nice. There's something weird in the drums that's sorta pulling it back though. Is there no (or barely any) hi hat? I feel like a shup shup shup shup fours in the chorus would lift it. That's production, though, not writing. The writing is excellent. Nicely done, both.
@balancelost Mar 2022
This is crazy Smithsy, mainly in the verses. Love it. Great melancholy melodies and those stop starts are a very nice touch. It's in the choruses that becomes uniquely you. I keep noticing all these extra things in the arrangement with each listen. Better have another go to see if there are any other hidden details I missed.
@loveonamixtape Mar 2022
Ooh this is just too good. Love the melancholy upbeat jangle to this, and the synths give the arrangement a nice bit of lushness. The melody is great, especially love where it goes on the "same cursed moon." The lyrics are fantastic, so many great lines, but I especially love the slant rhymey poetry of "this winter sapped our wakefulness / umbrellas always shaking us." Great vocal from @frenchcricket and your voices sound great together on the chorus.
@andrea Feb 2022
This is outrageously good. I could listen to this on repeat all day. Even though it's a bleak theme the music, melody and vocals rock! Awesome collab!
@karlsburg25 Feb 2022
What a dream collab. and yes get a total smiths vibe with this. The movement in the structure of the song sends it to different places which reamain beautifully poppy but melencholic at the same time. Really loved this you two. Massive congrats and a job more than well done
@w1n Feb 2022
So good, great tune, top notch production and cool instrumentation. The chorus is super catchy
@sailingmagpie Feb 2022
With is a cracking collab! So much to enjoy - jingly jangly 80s indie guitars, the fuzzy bass, retro synth action, top vocals, those break downs for the pre-choruses. One of those songs I immediately put on again once it'd finished!
@adforperu Feb 2022
A real nice whiff of melancholy runs through this, despite the upbeat jangly nature. I hasten to mention The Smiths, but here we are. Really cool moment when you pull the LPF all the way down - Lips influence perhaps? Some of those later synths are damn TASTY. It really does sound lovechild with 50% each of your respective DNA.
@plushbaby Feb 2022
Love how the production evokes the era these letters would have been sent, it has a pre/internet innocence to it that I'm loving. Kind of a smithsy vibe to it, or late 80s. It's funny I hadn't really thought about those type of letters for a long time. One day maybe even the spam emails from Princes will become a thing of the past!
The lyrics are so good, I'm in awe of some of the lines, especially loved the god, listen to my voice keep droning on line, as if they're talking to a neighbour in the street or someone on the landline. Really great stuff!
@shortdan Feb 2022
Top collab work here. Great progression, melody and lyrics (as ever!). Love all the instrumentation - it’s all really well judged. Excellent!
@owl Feb 2022
This is wonderful, the chord progression has a slightly desperate, urgent feel that drives it all forward nicely, and when it opens into the chorus with your voices together, it’s like a ray of sunshine. The lyrics are lovely and just jam packed with great phrases and delivery. The layers of guitars and synth sound lovely and rich. Really enjoyed it, one of my favorites so far this year!
@thelowestbitter Feb 2022
Great collab, so jangly and poppy, it's like a lost Housemartins song. Really like when it all drops out on "it's really been a time you know". Great song concept too and some wonderful lyrics here - especially like "my darling boy’s so strong and tall, come see our new retaining wall"
@iwilleatyou Feb 2022
Hey now! This is a lost classic of alternative 80s and that's a great thing. The mix sounds awesome. Really good collab you two should do more.
@jackdawfactories Feb 2022
This is beautiful, I love that recurring guitar riff a ton, and Anya's vocals soar over this.
@helenseviltwin Feb 2022
Wonderful, jangly joy. I love the way it drops out in the pre-chorus to prepare you for the most ear-wormy of choruses. Nicely done, both.
@beat Feb 2022
Clever writing and arranging. And I like the Voice filter.
Collaboration is FAWM‘s very big +
@chriddof Feb 2022
I can also sense that Chumbawumba feel! I especially like the way the melody rises halfway through and at the end of each verse. This is really wonderful.
@rubberbandage Feb 2022
So fabulous — the cheerful chords and barely-concealed cynicism reminds me strongly of WYSIWYG-era Chumbawamba (which I love). Some distant family friends would send a card like this every Christmas, and we always gleefully mocked them while reading it. I should have set them to music instead!
@cblack Feb 2022
This is loads of fun. Love the vocals, and the upbeat music which has a melancholy underbelly. Interesting concept.
Really good job on this, both of you!
@blindkiwi Feb 2022
This bounces along like a morris minor down a country lane on a sunny day. Pure fun. I love the sound and the second verse lyrics, retaining walls and hydrangeas indeed. Cool stuff!
@paulh1237 Feb 2022
Absolute jangle heaven, loads of great lines here - the melody is so catchy, love the 'long and dreary..' section with the backing vocals. On second listen, I still like it. Good work,
@debrandio Feb 2022
This is so good you two! Janglely pop, love it when you both come in on the chorus.
@fonte Feb 2022
What a cool song! Amazing sound and production really like the vibe. Guitars at the start sound gorgeous!
@sph Feb 2022
What a happy sounding song! A lot of elements to discover or better simply enjoy
@frey Feb 2022
Oh wow, I just love the chorus, lyrics are wonderful (especially the season line) and on top of that, super catchy!!
@elesimo Feb 2022
So lovely! I agree with @sapient, every time I hear conservative friends complaining about how "there's no more good music these days!" I always think "well, you should listen to the songs in FAWM!".
Love the guitars and the vocals, such a great pair!
@sbs2018 Feb 2022
Awesome combo of drums, melody, lyrics, and vocals. Well done all the way through gaining in awesomeness!
@jeff9 Feb 2022
Dynamite. Fantastic arrangement & performance here for these most imaginative lyrics. Got a little Belle & Sebastian vibe, I think.
It does deliver a beautiful moment indeed, and surely does make me rejoice for having found FAWM.
@sapient Feb 2022
Don't you love FAWM for those moments that it proves our community is SIGNIFICANTLY more rewarding than listening to the radio?
Yeah, this is so very much one of those moments.
It's got oodles of that English rock quirkiness full of magnificent images, catchy hooks and spangly production.
Three cheers for you both! :D