hey, would you look at that! another space-themed song! yeah, i thought it would be a fun theme to have this week, but since this is folk, i don’t think it’s appropriate to put anywhere except song of the week-N. but unlike the liftoff and eventual quietude in “Orbitron”, which I reviewed here, this is something a little more overwhelming and vast and crazy.
i haven’t listened to The Glow Pt. 2 yet, which i should absolutely get to soon, but i’ve really liked this, “The Glow Pt. 2“, and “I Want Wind to Blow“. double albums take more time to get into, alright? and they’re pretty daunting for even a first listen, but that’s my procrastinator self talking.
i’m not totally sure what i was expecting when i first heard this song. for the first few seconds, it sounds like it’s going to be a sad, folky ballad, with the twanging and buzzing acoustic guitars. can i talk about the string buzz here? normally, when playing acoustic, that’s pretty undesirable, but in this song it actually sounds good, kind of toned-down and genuine. it’s a nice reminder that one person is playing this song, probably recording it somewhere in a quiet room. it’s very homey.
and the string buzz helps lead into the absolute wash of sound that happens at 1:12, when the lyrics and drums come into the song. suddenly, it gets all wacky, with this overdriven synth-like sound (?) and trumpets (like the cover might suggest) and these abstract, ricocheting lyrics that talk about some whirlwind memories of former love and a ball of rock in the sky reflecting light as a possible metaphor for remoteness and the feeling of ‘almost’. the song is like getting immersed in memories, loneliness, and the vastness of space all at once, and the lyrics are some of the best i’ve heard-if only i could hear them properly. cough. give it a listen if you haven’t already!
q-street 
