WMT 20
Thoughts on harmonies and storytelling, the Soulquarians, and new ones from Kenny Beats, Thee Sacred Souls, and Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith.
Kia ora!
Welcome along to the 20th instalment of Wasting My Time, my weekly music essay and review project. If it’s your first time along, hello! If it’s your 2nd-20th time, also hello!
This week, I’m reflecting on my RNZ appearance yesterday, and sharing some music that privileges vocal harmonies as a storytelling device. Last, I’ll recommend some new albums I’ve been digging over the last few days.
Let me know what you think! Hit me up on Twitter (@JoshEllery), or drop a comment at the bottom of the page.
Enjoy!
JE
I was back on RNZ yesterday, where I chatted to Jesse Mulligan and played some tunes celebrating the legacy of the Soulquarians collective. Many of my favourite albums come from these sessions - D’Angelo’s Voodoo, The Roots’ Things Fall Apart, Mos Def’s Black on Both Sides - so it was awesome to celebrate that music on national radio. Have a listen to the show here.
I’ve also prepared a playlist of Soulquarians goodies, if yesterday got you thinking. Pop this one on shuffle and see where it takes you:
In Praise Of: Vocal Harmony as a Storytelling Device
You could argue that musical harmony is the most dominant and influential force in my life.
My career is largely indebted to ideologies associated with collectivities, teamwork, collaboration, inclusion, and literal musical harmonies. My hobbies are associated with choral music, and the music I make (which I promise I’ll show you some day) is always built around the voice and the transformative qualities of harmony. I’m perpetually fascinated with music and association too – a particular chord progression might index feelings of despair, or nostalgia, while an unfamiliar non-diatonic chord might disrupt your read of a song and throw you somewhere else altogether unknown. It’s bloody cool.
I’ve written here before that the music that moves me the most is usually tethered to something extraordinary in a voice, something passionate in a performance, or something overwhelming and consuming – that’s where texture comes in. I’d also posit that texture alone doesn’t tend to move me, which might be a controversial take in the choral world I work in from time-to-time. It needs to be at the service of whatever the artist is trying to communicate holistically. Topically, the Soulquarians always did a good job of this, regardless of whether it was a rap, sung, or instrumental song. D’Angelo’s Voodoo is a high watermark for this sort of thing, particularly on songs like “Untitled (How Does It Feel)”, where the layers of vocal harmony amp up the intimacy in D’Angelo’s melody and lyrics, not to mention the uber-cool groove underpinning it all.
A contrary example of this idea might be that I’m not always too enamoured with Jacob Collier’s music. Dude’s a prodigy, yes, and I am theoretically blown away by many of the things he can do (microtonal key-changes anyone?), but some of the more maximalist elements or radical Collier re-harmonizations seem to detract from the storytelling and evocative qualities of the original songs he’s working with, whereas other re-arrangement attempts of his serve to accent the original lyric or melody. A provocative example to discuss might be Collier’s arrangement of “Moon River”:
Now, I’m deeply impressed by this. There’s some unbelievable technical virtuosity at play here, as well as some super wacky microtonal singing and key changes (particularly towards the end). It ticks the “consuming” and “enveloping” boxes, but I wonder sometimes whether it’s too much, particularly given the whimsical nature of the melody and lyric – what would Henry Mancini and Audrey Hepburn think? I do like it, but is it holistically cohesive as a musical experience? Hmm.
That’s not to say restraint is a necessary quality to make me feel things when listening to harmony-forward music. I’m fascinated and enormously moved by Rosie Lowe and Duval Timothy’s album Son, released last year. The title track is one of the best things I’ve ever heard:
I played this song to some friends not long ago, and it’s fascinating how a piece of music can silence a room so quickly. This is a bonkers, experimental view of a cappella music, but it’s so stirring and accessible at the same time. Wall-to-wall harmony, but somehow very simple in an impact sense at the same time. Most of Lowe and Timothy’s lyrics are undecipherable in the mix, but there’s an indelible sense of love and care embedded in this recording that renders lyric irrelevant to the overall experience. It’s just gorgeous.
A final example of harmonic storytelling from Bon Iver’s 22, A Million:
A pretty obtuse piece of lyric, Justin Vernon’s stories have travelled a long way from For Emma by this point, and are a puzzle unto themselves. As was the case with “Son”, though, texture and passion tell the story here. Vernon’s heavily auto-tuned voice, helped along here by the Messina instrument, passes through dense, closely voiced chords as he sings romantically towards a person, or maybe a God, I don’t really know. Regardless of literal interpretation, the whole thing feels cathartic for Vernon, as many of his best songs do, and that trait is generously gifted to the listener too. I can buy in to this one in a way that I can’t with Collier’s music (more often than not). Same for Bon Iver’s “Woods” from Blood Bank, or “The Wolves” from For Emma, Forever Ago.
I’m not totally sure what the point is here, beyond excitedly sharing some songs that display storytelling qualities through dense harmonic textures and passionate performances. We’re all drawn to different composite aspects of a song - rhythm, tempo, melody, timbre, and so on - and this is the one that is most directly impactful for me. I’d argue that layers and textures of harmonies can tell a story as well as any string of words can, if approached in the right way.
Like the songs above, the point is best expressed through experiencing this music head-on, so here are some further examples of albums that privilege dense harmony as a storytelling prerogative. Have a listen.
Harmony Storytelling Selections*
Duval Timothy & Rosie Lowe, Son
James Blake, James Blake
Damon Locks Black Monument Ensemble, Where Future Unfolds
Alice Coltrane, Kirtan: Turiya Sings
Minnie Riperton, Come To My Garden
* I plan to write long-form essays about all of these albums at some point in the future, so let me know what you like!
Selections
Kenny Beats, LOUIE
Kenny Beats’ debut solo record is out today on XL Recordings, and is a fantastic display of groove-based beat-making that tells a story. Nostalgia is implicit here, as Kenny’s beats (lol) narrate how he got his “Louie” nickname - the whole thing feels like Kenny exploring family links and support, and that’s a beautiful thing. There are the requisite features from JPEGMAFIA, Pink Siifu, and Slowthai, but it’s really the sample-driven immersion and beatscapes that sell the wholesome narrative. Lots of esoteric 70s soul material here too, which will always resonate well with me. Thoroughly recommended.
Thee Sacred Souls, Thee Sacred Souls
I haven’t been able to stop replaying the self-titled debut from Daptone’s Thee Sacred Souls. I play it when I wake up, and I play it to wind down before going to sleep. It has become an unavoidable musical colossus in my life. This is sunshine and joy bottled up and served with faultless grooves and effortless falsetto singing. The band themselves describe “mixing the easygoing grace of sweet ’60s soul with the grit of early ’70s R&B” - if that sounds good to you, then this is a must!
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith, Let’s Turn It Into Sound
Consistently one of the most forward-thinking ambient and new-age artists of the last decade, Let’s Turn It Into Sound is Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith’s turn towards maximalist experimental pop music. It really, really works for her - this is a compelling album from start to finish, and its intricate layers reveal themselves more and more over repeated listens. Early single “Is It Me or Is It You?” is the standout for me, but it spins fantastically well all the way through. Reliably awesome.
Gosh, that’s a lot of music! Here’s a handy place to find it all:
See you next week!
Josh