Brand New – “Lit Me Up”

“Lit Me Up” is a simmering brooder; this moody slow-burn whose pinnacle isn’t a guitar solo or chorus, but rather a creepy, electronically distorted “when I grow up, I want to be a heretic.” The song is hauntingly prophetic, as Lacey unwittingly predicts his demise: “Lit me up and I burn from the inside out / Yeah, I burn like a witch in a Puritan town” and then ultimately concludes that “it was a good dream.” Many of the #metoo movement’s detractors referred to it as a witch hunt, so the Salem witch trial depiction, in retrospect, is uncanny and downright chilling. Then, the song ends with an equally spine-tingling reversed audio passage: “If so…you will be dead tonight”. This is one of the only Brand New songs that doesn’t “go anywhere” but is better because of it. One can almost hear the crackling of wood and imagine the flicker of flames dancing against the silhouette of an autumn night sky. Absolutely haunting stuff.

Read more from this decade at my homepage for Sowing’s Songs of the Decade.

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5JjmQsvmmmOBFnUjP7FLu4

Radiohead – “Ful Stop”

A Moon Shaped Pool is sort of the antithesis of 2011’s The King of Limbs.  The album takes a much safer, warmer approach than its electronically-infused predecessor.  The results were disappointing to some who hoped that the band would continue to push a more experimental direction, but to the rest, it represented something of a Radiohead Best-Of – this resume-to-date that sounded like a collective of their best traits sans any failed or boring experiments.  From the lush, piano driven ambience of “Daydreaming” to the hook-laden, rock-oriented “Identikit”, the record sees the band pull it all together for a single experience that could be presented to just about any newcomer as the definitive Radiohead experience.

Although the album isn’t lacking for gorgeous gems – namely the beautiful and emotionally detached “Glass Eyes” or the sweepingly orchestral “Tinker Tailor Soldier Sailor Man Poor Man Beggar Man Thief” – the song to represent the decade for this generation-defining band ultimately came down to either “Daydreaming” or “Ful Stop”.  The former is stunning in every way imaginable, but “Ful Stop” eeks it out; on an album full of all things shimmering and pretty, it’s the track that brings something rougher…rawer…more aggressive.

When the drums kick in it feels like you’re being sucked into a black hole.  The entire song echoes this spiraling sensation; a dizzying atmosphere espoused with equally disorienting lyrics – a repeated “…truth will mess you up.”  The longer the track goes on the more dissonant…

The Tallest Man on Earth – “Burden of Tomorrow”

Who had a more productive and revered ten years than Kristian Matsson?  The man started off the decade by earning top honors from multiple publications for his 2010 masterclass in folk, The Wild Hunt.  From there, he cemented his position atop the genre with There’s No Leaving Now – a great and oft overlooked gem.  Dark Bird is Home stretched his sonic boundaries, and I Love You. It’s a Fever Dream. reminded us that he never lost his touch through the aforementioned record’s experimentation.  Needless to say, his legacy – at least with regard to the 2010’s – was never in doubt.

“Burden of Tomorrow” embodies everything about Mattson’s music in a tidy three and a half minute package.   It’s like a spur of the moment road trip through the countryside: the deceptively complex fingerpicking and skeletal guitar-and-vocals songwriting approach feels like a refreshing breeze blowing through the open roof of a car.  It’s as if that sensation, that joyous spontaneity that Matsson has become known for across the span of his career thus far, was captured in a bottle.

It’s not overly showy; it’s just Kristian’s raw, scratchy vocals atop acoustic guitar plucking – pretty standard fare by any means.  What makes this track special is his delivery and the melody.  He’s not an artist renowned for his hooks, but this track’s chorus is one of his very best – and the way he belts it out showcases his…

Kevin Morby – “Destroyer”

Of late, Kevin Morby has turned into a one-album-wonder for me.  I got into his music with 2016’s Singing Saw, from which “Destroyer” hails, and the album is a borderline classic in my opinion.  City Music and Oh My God followed in rapid succession with tepid results, failing to live up to the beauty of their predecessor.  But that’s okay when we’re talking about songs of the decade, because all you have to do is get hot once – and Kevin Morby absolutely hit the nail on the head with the gorgeous, jazzy folk of “Destroyer”.

Sometimes I wonder if the song title pays homage to Destroyer the artist, because at times it sounds like it belongs on Kaputt (for those following this series — foreshadow warning!), what with its blend of atmospheric indie-folk/pop and rich, textured jazz horns.  The song moves along very leisurely, Morby’s vocals floating without a care in the world atop a repetitive but elegant piano line. The turning point comes around the 2:30 mark when Morby elevates the emotion of the entire song with the line “And now I go down, towards the dirt…In which we died.”  From that point on it becomes the most gorgeous, sexy, and downtempo blend of lush indie-folk and jazz, this seductive intertwining of genres that is melodically pleasing and emotionally transformative.  The female backing vocals that brush up against the jazzier sections of the track are a subtle stroke of genius, added atop an already…

Silversun Pickups – “Skin Graph”

On the heels of 2009’s Swoon, Silversun Pickups’ trajectory over the course of the ensuing decade will depend on who you ask.  There’s a lot of staunch supporters of the band’s first two albums who feel that everything they’ve done since has been varying grades of disappointing.  For me, I think the band continued its ascension and peaked with 2012’s Neck of the Woods, an album that almost feels like being in a haunted house.  The themes are darker, the lyrics are creepier, and there’s even song titles like “Bloody Mary.”  The band really pursued its electronic ambitions here, without sacrificing too much of the raw grit that was noticeably absent on later albums like Better Nature.  For me, this is the quintessential Silversun Pickups release – and from this record, “Skin Graph” stands out like no other track.  It’s epic and sprawling, taking nearly half of its six minute run time to finally erupt into its long-anticipated chorus, one that is interrupted by guitar/drum interchanges that feel like a series of mini-breakdowns.  Afterwards, it drifts off into ambient territory, Aubert’s wispy vocals seemingly lost in the wind before it all comes charging back on the heels of tense, swelling electric riffs that re-open the floodgates to the song’s trademark melody.  Everything ratchets up a couple notches during the second lap, Aubert’s vocals sounding more urgent and frightened, the riffs louder, and the drumming more chaotic.  It’s the perfect opener for any SSPU album,…