Arthur Moon, according to Arthur Moon, is queering pop. And boy, can you hear it in Homonormo, this hypnotic, distorted pop song on a San-Junipero-Type beat (in that it’s sunshiney but also, layered, and is set over a techno backdrop).
The coolest part of this song is the mixing of the drums and the vocals. We start off with just a basic beat, and then Åshuvud (the lead singer of Arthur Moon), sings, “I woke up and the sun was shining”. But the thing is, the drums come in during the music at a delayed time, when you least expect it — it’s hard to explain so here’s an example. When Åshuvud sings the chorus, it goes like this:
“Hello, send my” beat “regards to” beat “New York”
I’m sure there’s some actual musical term (there is, see the footnote) for what’s going on here, but whatever it is, it works — it adds a cool layer of complexity to Homonormo while maintaining it’s bop status.
This song just combines so many things that I always wanted to see together: that play-in-the-afternoons-sway-and-sing-along feeling that a particular brand of indie music manages to capture, and yet an experimental flair in the production, with clear techno fluences and heavy voice pitch correction + layering. It’s like techno, indie, pop, experimental, genius at once. The melody on the main chorus line is so well done—”I think I wanna settle down, but weirder.” Like it has a motion to it, and you feel like you should be banging your head along to it. Also, bonus points: this song makes me want to like, be a professor in New York City with a lot of connections on the board of the MoMA, except I spend most of my days at a café in Greenwich instead of in my office, and I take down notes for new project ideas in this old-fashioned leather bounded journal.
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Make a Move by Lawrence
For the techno vibes, The Japanese House
For the voice, all of Sammy Rae (she’s incredible, thanks Aviva <3)
Rostam / Discovery
FOOTNOTE: Carlos texted me (he actually studies and makes music unlike us oops) and there IS a musical term for what’s going on here, from the man himself:
The drums are arranged in a very smart way in Homonormo. The beat is subdivided into a 12/8 type of feel that is dictated by the hi hats which make the beat sound like it’s “laying back” on the time. The beginning of the chorus reminds me of a technique that jazz arrangers use. The melody is played alone, followed by a rhythm section hit, and then they continue with the beat for the rest of the chorus. It’s a reall cool effect with a live band and it was executed reall well in the production of this song.
The drums are arranged in a very smart way in Homonormo. The beat is subdivided into a 12/8 type of feel that is dictated by the hi hats which make the beat sound like it’s “laying back” on the time. The beginning of the chorus reminds me of a technique that jazz arrangers use. The melody is played alone, followed by a rhythm section hit, and then they continue with the beat for the rest of the chorus. It’s a reall cool effect with a live band and it was executed reall well in the production of this song.
Turns out it is really good with a live band, their Tiny Desk legitimately sent shivers down my spine: