music moots with Baileyrp ("April" by Armlock)
We are extremely back with Music Moots™, the blogseries where I ask someone to recommend me a song they like, and then I listen to the song and then write a little about it.
Today we have Baileyrp! The Colorado musician makes "dreamy glitch pop" (Bandcamp bio) slash "beep boop calculator music" (IG bio) slash "every room in your house can facilitate 'bedroom pop' if you believe in yourself" (me). Baileyrp's album _Everything came out in August and, to borrow the parlance of a lot of people on the internet, it itches my brain real good. Not a harsh Scrub Daddy sponge scouring, more like a gentle tickle with one of those wire scalp massage devices.
Bandcamp New & Notable Jul 16, 2021
"Love Isn't So Lonely" is a standout, with gentle synths, a drum machine played by a sweet lil mouse or other woodland creature, and an insistently catchy hook; I also love the sweet and sad "Velcro," whose vocals swell and retreat in a tidal manner. Actually, the vocals throughout are really stunning, with lots of layers of harmonies and cushy beds of digital manipulation that create a vulnerable but peaceful vibe. You could cry to this album or you could rock yourself to sleep with it, and both approaches would be valid.
Baileyrp also just put out _Everything, re-imagined, which reworks seven songs from _Everything and proves the strength of the songwriting through its sheer versatility, whether in the roughing up of a guitar loop or the shedding of a layer of auto-tune to let rawer vocals shine (a type of super neat, naturally ephemeral realtime song production you can watch yourself on the Baileyrp social channels...)
@baileyrpmusic i wanna pretend love isn’t so lonely #fyp #guitar #electronic #acoustic #digital #pocketoperator #teenageengineering #singer #songwriter #artist #cool
♬ original sound - bailey
Bailey recommended the song “April” by Armlock. Oh hell yeah, a song I have never heard by an artist I've never heard of!
First, as I delved into "who are Armlock?" I learned immediately they are Australian. From Melbourne! Recs in the Oceania region continue apace, as we come off of the nice chain of midnight dive recommending New Zealand artist Mieke, who then rec'd her own pick. Simon Lam and Hamish Mitchell, the two people who form Armlock's core duo, met 15 years ago studying jazz in college. I think studying jazz in college together is one of the most fruitful ways to bond musically. Studying jazz in high school also counts—through the exploration of 'standards,' one can truly learn to get weird with your buds. Armlock are also opening for Momma when they go to Australia in January, which is freakin sick.
"April," a thoughtful and understated indie rock song, has a specific moment that I admire very much in music. It occurs at 2:02, with a couple of persistent guitar notes that tugs the calm mood of the song forward, a c'mere sort of motion. It's not quite a "drop," and definitely not a "climax." But the track fills out, with slightly bigger drums and more layers of sound, a simultaneous expansion and release. It makes me want to take a deep breath and exhale.
I feel like in my personal listening rotation, the masters of the Expansion/Release are Death Cab For Cutie: "Title and Registration," "Coney Island," they love to employ the musical equivalent of patting you on the back and saying: don't worry bud, we're still here, and hey, we are even a bit louder than before. "April" is not a reassuring song, in fact it actually sounds like it's about an ambiguously messy parting of ways—"Found a way to ignore you / In a way that makes sense"—but there's still a touch of reassurance built into that Expansion.
Thank you Bailey!! Link aggregation here, hiiighly rec a follow on the ol TikTok or IG, whatever vertical vid floats yr boat.
And thanks for reading I Enjoy Music! If you like it, tell a friend.
