Postcard 11: 01/04/2024.
The clocks have changed and the daffodils are out. Spring is here people.
Today, I am tired. There are several compounding events that have lead to a distinct lack of sleep for me over the last few days. Firstly, Megan and I had a whistlestop 24 hours in Scotland attending the wedding of my MSci supervisor/current boss Phil and his now wife Laura. It was a wonderful event with excellent music (shout out to Hot Date, the best wedding band in Scotland and possibly the world) and even better people, but it did also mean a somewhat painful 5am wake-up/scramble to Gatwick. Secondly, I ended up getting very drunk at said wedding, and being over 30 now means that there is no hope of good rest with many pints of beer and several drams of whiskey in my belly. And finally — leading me to the theme of this week’s postcard — as we stumbled into our hotel room 12:59am became 2am, and British Summer Time began. So for once, my tiredness is at least partially a good thing: the clocks are forwards, it’s light at 7pm, and spring feels like it’s finally here.
In putting this week’s postcard together for you, I had the realisation that spring songs are hard to define. Summer, autumn and winter feel very distinct in their moods; ask me to pick an album for any of the rest of the seasons and I can give you an answer immediately (one of my favourite records of all time, Crack-Up by Fleet Foxes, is the definition of a winter album despite what some of its song titles would have you believe). Spring is more slippery. The working definition I ended up going with is songs that sonically represent the thawing crispness of winter crossed with the optimism of upcoming days of warmth. The opening track I’ve gone with, Owen Pallett’s ‘Lewis Takes Off His Shirt’, personifies this for me. It’s a song that’s bristling with potential and unpredictability, propelled by the beautiful interplay between the lightly pulsating synths and swells of orchestra. The arrangement of the latter is nothing short of stunning; it feels like you’re witnessing a bubbling and contained force slowly, yet all at once, break free and burst to life.
One track for days when it feels like we might almost be slipping back into a wet and rainy winter is ‘New Grass’, by synth-pop turned experimental icons Talk Talk. I fell in love with their records Spirit of Eden and Laughing Stock a few years ago, when I finally relented and gave them a listen after seeing them mentioned again and again by some of my favourite artists. As I’m writing this, I’m reminded that I would not be cut out to be a music critic; it feels impossible to adequately describe the emotion that their songs evoke. The closest I can get is a mix of melancholy, awe and acceptance, that sweet spot where something is so beautiful that you’re reminded it eventually will be lost, in one form or another. The track I’ve chosen here feels to me like a grey spring sky after a storm, when you hope for, and occasionally are blessed with, a crack of light between the clouds.
Finally, although a bit of an on-the-nose choice, it was impossible for me not to include the title track of Noah and the Whale’s record The First Days Of Spring’. Yes, that Noah and the Whale. Despite being known for their somewhat cheesy and sometimes irritating folk pop, they released one truly excellent album following lead singer Charlie Fink’s break-up with acclaimed singer-songwriter Laura Marling. If you’ve not heard it before, I implore you to take some time to give it a go; it’s an achingly beautiful, and in my mind criminally underrated, record. I’ve been obsessed with the title track since I first heard it all the way back in 2009, so much so that when my parents very sweetly bought me a few hours of recording studio time as a Christmas present many moons ago, it was the song that I ended up recording (no, I will not post the soundcloud link). I love the sheer scale of the song, and the way it’s able to delicately balance the intimate with the overwhelmingly grand. It’s impossible for me not to get swept up in the ascending violins in the crescendo, and feel just a bit better about being in the world for it.
As always, here’s the Tidal link for you folks. And Happy Easter to you all! I hope that this postcard provides a suitable soundtrack to your day off and that you’re not too full of chocolate. I’ll catch you next week.
Postcard 11: 01/04/2024.
Owen Pallett - Lewis Takes Off His Shirt
Nick Drake - One Of These Things First
The Feelies - Time Will Tell
The Clean - I Wait Around
Nathan Bowles - Words Spoken Aloud
Florist - Spring in Hours
caroline - Good morning (red)
Modern Nature - Masque
Talk Talk - New Grass
Noah and the Whale - The First Days Of Spring