Melody Klein - Too Long
I couldn’t decide how best to respond to this song, so I won’t.
See-Man-Ski - Get Back (to where you came from)
This is a great sound for you; I know you listed some other sonic reference points in the song bio, but it’s giving me 2000s Tegan and Sara vibes and I’m loving it. The energy is killer, your vocals are powerful and full-throated but you’re always in control.
If this is written in response to a specific event or news story, or addressed to a specific person, it’s lost on me. That’s fine, although I’m slightly hesitant to sympathize with this narrator, just because “Get back to where you came from” is a commonly-expressed anti-immigrant sentiment, though the rest of the lyrics lead me to believe that’s not the angle you’re taking.
A bigger problem is that this seems to only cursorily meet the challenge - there doesn’t seem to be a reason for the lyrics to be in the order they’re in, so it comes across as a pile of insults and attacks, the first of which just happens to be the same as the last.
Firefly - Firephyte
Nice sound; good use of the burning sound effect and great contrasts between sections. Cool concept for the cyclical element, although without the song bio, it’s oblique enough that I wouldn’t have a good sense of what’s going on and the steps in the cycle aren’t super clear. Some of the metaphors are particularly baffling, like “The grass is always greener when the judges have all died”, or the references to musicians.
I do like that you balance the wilderness language with family language; I’m reminded of They Might Be Giants’ song “Nanobots”, which is both about having children and accidentally setting loose self-replicating nanobots to destroy the world. In your case, constantly keeping in mind how this will come off to someone who doesn’t know anything about pyrophytic plants, and considering exactly what you want to communicate, may be helpful.
Phlub - Eternal Return
Dry lyrics plus esoteric music does not equal a rewarding listen. I need something more familiar to hang onto, and the drum circle percussion is not high-energy enough or engaging enough to keep the song grounded.
Star Bear - Chapters
Dependence to independence to dependence within a person’s lifetime. Perfect, love it, excellent concept; not one I thought of when formulating the challenge but one that fits perfectly.
Your voice is on-pitch, confident and expressive, but at the same time lacks a certain polish. When you layer the background vocals, it works great; when your lead vocal is exposed it feels like your voice is holding back the song just a bit. I wonder what the result would be like if you wrote a great song (which you’ve done) and then, like Governing Dynamics this round, handed the vocal off to someone who will knock it out of the park.
chewmeupspitmeout - Ad Homonym
I’m not opposed on principle to wordplay-centered lyrics that derive their effect from form rather than content (I’m a crossword constructor, after all…), and this is a fun way to meet the challenge. (See also “La Minimal” by Ominous Ride from SpinTunes 17 Round 3.) It helps that you go all-in on the performance, with big emotional moments and lots of contrast. I wouldn’t want every song in the round like this, but it’s nice as a special treat!
Hot Pink Halo - Hexaflexagon
Clearly the idea of endless cycles informed the construction of this song in many ways, and it’s a pleasant experience to get lost in, but it feels like seven turns of a little wheel rather than one turn of a big wheel - the lyrics, while certainly evocative, are abstract enough that any specific sequential relationship between stanzas is not readily apparent.
Sober - It’ll Be Ok
I love your typical acoustic sound, but it’s fun to hear something different from you as well. This is well performed and well produced as ever, though it doesn’t grab me emotionally the way some of your other songs have. Like “Waiting for the Crash” from SpinTunes 18, I feel like the lyrics get too bogged down in jargon and unfamiliar names to have the impact I wish they did. But “Waiting for the Crash” took first place that round, so what do I know.
Also In Blue - Howling At The Moon
Like most of your entries, this lands on our eardrums fully formed; you know what you want to achieve and you achieve it. You’re a pro.
If I wanted to find an element of craft to quibble about, it’d be that sometimes the third line of the verse has an internal rhyme (urge/emege; coming/humming; etc) and sometimes it doesn’t. As a church music guy used to hymns where the meter and rhyme scheme are strictly maintained between verses, it’s disappointing when that rigor is almost there but not quite. Again, though - a quibble.
The only other way I could critique this is that some other entries in this round used the circular structure for a meaningful emotional payoff. Here, it’s well-crafted and it certainly ties things up neatly, but it doesn’t make me feel anything other than, “this is a fun song!”
Mandibles - Home Sweet Home At Last
This is The Take On The Challenge, right here. There are a couple other entries this round that deal with cycles of self-destructive behavior, but for me this is the one that makes the most emotional impact. The gut-punch of the ending reminds me of the Coen Brothers’ film “Inside Llewyn Davis”, a movie I loved and was greatly moved by and will probably never see again. The emotional devastation is easier to take in the form of a four-minute song though.
The way the lyrics in the chorus shift as the cycle goes around is very arfully and effectively done; the melody is among the stickiest in the fight, and that chord progression at the end of the pre-chorus (“This time it’s gonna work, I can feel it”) is so good. Cybronica’s voice is in fine form as well.
The only flaw in the song is the timing issue between the piano and guitar; at times it sounds like they were recorded completely independently, with neither one used as a guide for the other, and then jammed together. It takes me completely out of the song at times, which is all the more frustrating because everything else is working so well.
Night Sky - Leave it on the TMB
Great concept here. Lovely instrumentation as usual, and I love the way the lyrics offer hints at the troubles this couple are facing without spelling out anything explicit. Is this hike a last-ditch effort by the narrator to salvage the relationship? And once the circle is complete, will their problems still be there waiting for them? I definitely understand the impulse to escape to a separate world where mundane problems don’t plague you, and the lyrics also offer excellent sensory details about each stop on the hike.
Governing Dynamics - No Matter Who
Beka’s voice is a perfect match for Travis’s wash of guitars. Sonically, this song is just lovely, and the lyrics are artfully done as well. The melody doesn’t stick with me after it’s over, but while I’m listening it’s a great experience.
The Dutch Widows - Rejection Is Hard When You're Young And In Love, But Wait Till You Get Old, Son [SHADOW]
Lovely and reflective. The melodic instrument is haunting, and the song gently ebbs and flows in a way that keeps me engaged for the short run-time. I think your voice is well-suited to this sort of subdued, weary delivery, perhaps moreso than the higher-energy stuff you’ve done in many of your other entries.
Micah Sommersmith - Ordinary Time [SHADOW]
Thanks for listening.
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