"I Don't Live Here Anymore" by The War on Drugs ft. Lucius, Monday, March 19, 2023 (partial repost)

In 2021 The War on Drugs returned after four years with their critically-acclaimed album, I Don't Live Here Anymore. The title track and lead single features indie pop group Lucius as backing vocals on the chorus. Like their previous works, such as A Deeper Understanding  (2017) and  Lost in the Dream (2014), The War on Drugs is able to play two chords back to back for six minutes and create a song that you never want to end. Those two chords create a warm cadence that's like a bonfire on a cold fall night. And that's reason enough to curl up with a blanket and enjoy The War on Drugs all day long.

A CREATURE VOID OF FORM. In addition to producing their own music, The War on Drugs has also produced two seasons of a podcast titled Super High Quality Podcast. The second season is a four-part documentary about how the band wrote and recorded their fifth record. In addition to the band "talking shop" and sharing their demos and jam sessions, listeners are transported into the band's world--a snowy cabin in Upstate New York where they secluded themselves to record the 2021 record. The record was recorded over three years. After rewrites and re-recordings in multiple studios in multiple cities and a pandemic, the record arrived on October 29, 2021. The single "I Don't Live Here Anymore" started showing up on some of the music podcasts I had been listening to as a recommendation for new music. Song Exploder did an episode in which lead singer Adam Granduciel talks about how seeing his musical idol, Bob Dylan, in concert inspired the song about losing a past relationship.

I NEED A CHANCE TO BE REBORN. I've talked about how "I Don't Live Here Anymore," to me, sounds like an anachronistic '80s or early '90s hit, adding it to my Pseudo '80s Hits playlist. It's kind of like what Mic the Snare said about "Blinding Lights": "It's just like that one song. Uh? Which one?" Is it "The Boys of Summer"? something by Springsteen? In some alternate universe, "Blinding Lights," "Run Away with Me," "Somebody That I Used to Know," and "I Don't Live Here Anymore" were the '80s hits.  The song features Jess Wolfe and Holly Laessig of the Indie pop group Lucius, crediting the backup singers unlike many other artists who record with other artists in the studio yet only a close reading of the linear notes reveals who the musicians on the track actually are. The band is actually a f0ur-piece but vocalists Jess and Holly are the most visible members. Jess and Holly have appeared in several collaborations with other artists including Roger Waters, Sheryl Crowe, Brandi Carlile, Jackson Browne, and John Legend. In today's song, Lucius adds the female perspective to the relationship that has ended. It's wistful and teary, and ultimately a great song. 

Music video:

Live on Ellen



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

"Photograph" Ed Sheeran, Saturday, February 3, 2024 (updated repost)

Image
  Before " Shape of You ," Ed Sheeran was known primarily as a singer-songwriter. His albums + and X took clear influence from The Beatles , Carole King , Elton John , James Taylor , and the ballad writers of yesteryear. But he had a knack for throwing in a few rap bars along the way. With every record, Sheeran gained more acclaim. His sophomore record produced the mega Billboard #2 hit , " Thinking Out Loud ," which won two Grammys including Song of the Year. The final single from the album, " Photograph " was written in collaboration with Snow Patrol 's Johnny McDaid . Sheeran drew inspiration from his long distance relationship with singer/songwriter Nina Nesbitt (the featured musician on Kodaline ’s acoustic version of “Brand New Day” ). The two spent five months apart. They would eventually break up, but the song remains a gem on Sheeran's second best-selling record.  LOVING CAN HURT . "Photograph" was the song that introduced m
Read more

“Teenage Dream” by Katy Perry (reworked post), Tuesday, February 27, 2024

Image
When I was a Christian teenager, a book started circulating in my church youth group. Joshua Harris wrote about youth with wisdom and authority that seemed logical and categorical for every situation to the young women who read I Kissed Dating Goodbye . The book’s thesis argued that dating was a worldly alternative to the more purposeful Christian concept of courtship. Dating fueled erotic passions, which must be saved for a heterosexual marriage. Dating is casual, even preteens dates. Courtship was about vetting a marriage partner and would happen in the late teen years or early adulthood.  YOU THINK I'M PRETTY WITHOUT ANY MAKEUP ON .  Josh Harris’s I Kissed Dating Goodbye was part of a movement I’ve written about a lot: purity culture. How much this movement influenced young Katy Hudson, a pastor’s daughter in Southern California, touring with a slew of Christian rockers on the heels of her debut, self-titled album , I can only speculate what went through the 17-year-old star’s
Read more

"All of Me Wants All of You" (Helado Negro Remix) by Sufjan Stevens, Sunday, February 27, 2022

Image
I've talked about how Carrie & Lowell , Sufjan Steven 's 2015 masterpiece, is a quintessential portrait of dealing with grief and forgiveness when I wrote about the first two tracks, " Death with Dignity ," and " Should Have Known Better ." By the third track on the record, " All of Me Wants All of You ," explores grief in a different way from the previous two tracks. As with most songs on the album, "All of Me" appears to be deeply personal to the artist. But being personal doesn't stop this track's language from being the most obscured with allusions to geography and possibly an allegory from a little-known Spanish play. ALL OF ME THINKS LESS OF YOU.  There's a debate   on Lyrics Genius about the meaning of this song, especially surrounding the identity of the only other character mentioned by name in this song, Manelich. Is he the one the song is about? Stevens has written vaguely about homosexual attraction throughout
Read more