4/13/14

Speed, slow-downs, syncopation. Delicacy and direct honesty. The movement in this song is captivating, the vulnerability is physical and every time I listen to Elena Tonra I get these troubling little chills, addicting in a way I cannot hope to fight. Her words are like whispered secrets I can hear and hold in mind, a quiet oasis in the noise. The more pretentious listeners among us sometimes tend to lump these female songwriters into a category. Especially when they're British. I have been guilty of this and the criticisms are usually accurate. Their voices are not the strongest, their words are often borderline cliche. They. All. Sound. The Same. But I've found Daughter surpasses these stereotypes, in part because her songs have a pained quality, an expressiveness of metaphor. Musically they show firm grasp on the possibility of structure, building on verses and choruses throughout. Dynamics and space are used masterfully, whether through gently echoed electrics or soft strumming and picking backed by the most subtle of auxiliary sounds and drumrolls, nary a crash in sight. The lack of clutter makes it so easy to hear the spine behind the song, the authenticity of where this came from. I simply love the poetry of it, how bare it is. And I think that's what shakes me so, what makes these little quakes in my musical mind so notable, because I hear these songs and where they come from and I cannot hope to match them but maybe, maybe I could try...

"That boy, take me away, into the night
Out of the hum of the street lights and into a forest
I'll do whatever you say to me in the dark
Scared I'll be torn apart by a wolf in mask of a familiar name on a birthday card

Blow out all the candles, blow out all the candles
"You're too old to be so shy," he says to me, so I stay the night.
Just a young heart confusing my mind, but we're both in silence
Wide-eyed, both in silence
Wide-eyed, like we're in a crime scene

Well I have brittle bones it seems
I bite my tongue and torch my dreams,
Have a little voice to speak with
And a mind of thoughts and secrecy.
Things cannot be reversed, we learn from the times we are cursed
Things cannot be reversed, learn from the ones we fear the worst
And learn from the ones we hate the most how to...

Blow out all the candles, blow out all the candles
"You're too old to be so shy," he says to me, so I stay the night.
Just a young heart confusing my mind, but we're both in silence
Wide-eyed, both in silence
Wide-eyed

Cause we both know I'll never be your lover
I only bring the heat
Company under cover
Filling space in your sheets
Well I'll never be a lover
I only bring the heat
Company under cover
Filling space in your sheets, in your sheets

So, please just blow out all the candles, blow out all the candles
"You're too old to be so shy," he says to me so I stay the night
It's just a young heart confusing my mind, but we're both in silence
Wide-eyed, both in silence
Wide-eyed, like we're in a crime scene."
~Candles, 
Daughter, His Young Heart