It’s been too long since we’ve done one of these | single reviews

By Ryan G

YutaY – “Run”: I just played a video game while listening to this single. No really. An classic arcade style game that mixes a love of vaporwave, political angst, and weird pop in one lovely mixed media experience. My score was 1818500. Was that a good score? I have no clue. Why dontcha play and see if you can beat me. But for real that was actually a fairly lit song. Also I’m tired and I’m more in a “be real” mood than an academic “be a real journalist” mood. Sue me. Actually listen to this song and then sue me. I’ll also add that this quote from YutaY feels especially relevant for the context of the track: “Many of the thoughts and feelings I write about in ‘Run’ are triggered by my relationship with social media, and the anxiety it triggers as I can’t help but compare myself to a glossy and curated version of someone else.”

Gabriel Garzón-Montano – “Muñeca”: You know what 2020 needs more of? Reggaeton! I’m fairly certain I’ve never written about a reggaeton track on this blog before. That reminds me, I remember being in the NYC Virgin Megastore with my dad (gosh, remember those places?) and watching a media event for an event where Daddy Yankee was the VIP. I think I was 15 years old at the time. In any case, that event and this song show how timeless… and the same… a reggaeton beat can be. While still being enjoyable! If you feel like getting freaky and surrouding yourself with some over the top visuals, this song is for you. Yes, I’m in an odd mood tonight, if you couldn’t tell.

TREASVRE – “Too Late” / “One of Us”: I’m going to respond to two singles by this Bay Area shoegaze band, inspired by the spacey tones found in some dreampop. “Too Late” is my intro to the band, and its a brand of shoegaze I haven’t heard before. I’m used to this style of alternative being heavier on the low end, and the mix here is airier than I expected. This isn’t to say it doesn’t carry its own brand of muscle—it does. Imagine if Alvvays was doused in post rock and wrote all their songs in the middle of the night in the wilderness, and I suppose this might be the result. The darkness emerges even more in “One of Us,” a foreboding tune that could be on the soundtrack for an induction ceremony into a secret society. Illuminati, are you listening?

Anthony Lazaro – “The Silent Patient”: I’m a bit of an anxiety prone individual. So, naturally, I’ve been gravitating toward calming music the past few years. Anthony Lazaro’s “The Silent Patient” suffers from a bit of an identity crisis, but it kinda makes the song more relatable in a way. It can be hard to separate the intrusive thoughts from those truly coming from yourself, and Lazaro seeks to walk the line between genres to calm you down while acknowledging that odd head spaces do in fact exist. But we can find beauty in those weird spaces. Dive into this folky track that gradually transitions into a shoegaze ambient track.

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