Kidburn - Fooled By The Rush Of Growing Up
Review by Karl Magi
Overall Album Impressions
Kidburn’s Fooled By The Rush Of Growing Up delves deeply into loss, memory and love through the artist's powerful vocal performances, lyrics that exude moving emotion and instrumental performances that intensify and deepen the mingled affection and nostalgia permeating the music. The guest contributors all add to the emotive strength of the album as it unfolds.
At the heart of Fooled By The Rush Of Growing Up is a nexus between Kidburn’s galvanizing vocal abilities and the effort he pours into his songwriting. His voice is flexible, sweeping from trembling melancholy to ferocious love as it moves through the music. The fact that the artist also writes lyrics that are engaging and permeate me with gripping feeling adds to the overall breadth and depth of the musical experience.
The combination of synth, guitar and saxophone onFooled By The Rush Of Growing Up weaves instrumental magic. Both the guitar and the saxophone solos are soulful and full of intense emotion as they express the sensations that fill the music. The melodies are achingly beautiful, capturing the essence of the album, while the synth adds a plethora of tones, timbres and textures, giving the music lush sonic complexity.
I also want to mention the guest artists who have worked with Kidburn on this album. Each of them contributes their own vision of the music while remaining true to the overall emotional tenor and sonic signature of the record. The end result is an album that pours out feeling with unadulterated strength and richness.
My Favourite Songs Analyzed
“The Magic Pond” begins as a sax echoes distantly, full of piercing poignancy, while the huge bass trembles and chimes flash with warm radiance. The low end undulates with silky motion before the track slides back into silence, providing a dreamy introduction to the album.
Massive drums reverberate and warm notes wash smoothly through the music as “Dreams” begins. Rich bass flows underneath and Max Cruise’s impassioned sax weeps with reedy strength. The sax melody is tinged with melancholy and now Kidburn's intense voice fills the music as it carries the enfolding melody.
Underneath the other musical elements, the bass pulsates with a smooth undulation, as the drums keep throbbing and Kidburn's silky voice wraps around my ears. Medium-high synth sails with a caressing feeling while the vocals ache with need.
The drums also have a colossal presence underneath everything. The vocal melody contains deep sentiments above the robust low end, the chorus soaring out with palpable feeling. I enjoy the tenderness in this music as it unfolds.
Max Cruise’s sax solo flies out with a mixture of pain, desire and intense expression above the pulsating bass as gigantic drums propel the music forward. Trembling vocals call out above the flaring synth and swirling bass. Again the saxophone fills the music with heartfelt strength before the song ends.
Our storyteller tells the song's subject not to cry but just to open up their eyes. He goes on to say “there's a new love that's coming into your life.” He points out that when they said goodbye, he tried to forget about the other person but now he says "this time I'm going to make you mine.”
The narrator adds that he was running against the wind and trying to “reach for you in my dreams.” He saw the other person's face as they stood in the rain and he found himself falling in love all over again. He goes on to say that " I know someday you'll find your way” and that their memory will stay in his heart.
Our storyteller wants to win back the song subject's love. He continues by asking " baby let me be the one " but points out that the other person's heart is made of stone because when they're gone he's still running against the wind and trying to reach for them in their dreams.
“Written In The Sky” starts as a shining synth bursts with brilliance in an elegiac melody above massive drums and scudding bass. Kidburn’s touching voice carries a melody mingling memory, loss and desire.
Low end oscillation shapes the music while a resonant synth vibrates as giant drums continue to throb powerfully. Kidburn’s vocals are rich with need and a dreamy feeling a s the radiant synth light suffuses the song. Guitar cries out to touch the yearning synth as the low end pulsates on.
The vocal melody is a mixture of hope and intense passion as guitar leaps through the track. Kidburn’s voice trembles with feeling as the chorus soars up. The drums have a powerful shaping influence and the guitar solo combines heartbreak with howling energy.
Hi hat skitters and the guitar sings out with a penetrating feeling and the low end throbs. The vocals are deeply felt and the flashing synth sings a melody with an aspirational feeling as the song ends.
Our storyteller is alone with the song’s subject and their bodies burn for one another as “you turn on the lights, you kill me with that smile.” As they take off their jeans, there’s “the sweet taste of fear” and he drowns in the other person’s eyes. The song’s subject trembles in his embrace as “we surrender to the spark of desire in the dark.”
The narrator reminds the other person that they only have that night and it won't last forever. He asks them to take his hand, adding that "sometimes it's now or never.” He says that it's hard to understand feelings deep inside and concludes that "baby, tonight was written in the sky."
Our storyteller says that now he and the song’s subject "stare at each other in silence, waiting for the words." He tells the other person that they'll always be the love of his life. He whispers "the words you love to hear” in the other person's ears and says that his "broken heart’s been set on fire.”
The guitar cries out with tenderness and memory as the piano and synth add slip steadily to commence “Wind of Lies”. The jazz organ suffuses the song with gentle light as Kidburn’s voice carries the painfully pining melody. The sensitivity and emotional weight of the lyrics and vocal performance come together to touch my heart.
Kidburn’s voice climbs with passionate power and the drums rebound as the chorus cries out, full of emptiness and desolation. The backing synth gleams and adds luminosity while the drums and bass throb together and the vocals surge with heartbreak. As the chorus rebounds, a radiant synth carries tragic feelings.
The saxophone calls out again, ripping with ardent wanting and loss, rising above the hard-hitting percussion. The guitar solo burns with lost love as the interwoven notes tumble and float, dancing above the low end with muscled strength. Kidburn unleashes his vivid voice as the chorus rings out and the track pulses to an end.
The narrator wonders if, when he and the song’s subject said goodbye on a winter night, it was fate or “the mystery of life.” They met up beside the river while the “wind of lies was blowing straight into our eyes,” and because they were “victims of our silly ways,” they didn’t learn from their mistakes and for reasons he can’t explain, “I didn’t hesitate a minute to say goodbye.”
Our storyteller lets the song’s subject know that if they let him go, “everything I was before, I can’t be anymore.” He points out that it’s no one’s fault, but the other person is better off “in someone else’s arms.” He adds that the other person waited “so long for love that’s gone.”
As the song concludes, the narrator says that he has to turn away and cry when he should be at the other person’s side. He finishes, “we broke up near the river while the wind of lies was blowing straight into our eyes.”
“The Beach of Tears” begins as a placid synth adds a lambent glow. Tightly glistening notes wander dreamily as the drums tick slightly. An illuminating synth spills as the heavy drumbeat shapes the music and crystal chimes flicker delicately.
Kidburn’s voice exudes potent sensations, delivering the aching memory reflected in the lyrics. The drumbeat continues to thud heavily as the vocals flow with poignancy. The guitar deepens the emotional punch of the words and Kidburn takes hold of me with his gripping vocal performance.
The shining notes flash as sparkling synth levitates above the strong low end. The vocals pour out engaging feelings as the solid bass guides the music. Kidburn has the ability to draw the listener into the song’s storytelling with his first-rate voice.
The guitar snarls with added muscle while the fragile chimes tremble and the drums and bass rebound. The guitar solo sobs and flies, pushing home longing and need. Flaring notes shiver with soft brilliance in the distance and the chorus calls out again, conveying the complex emotive landscape of the words. The song ends on the vocals and a softly drifting sound.
As the narrator walks down the beach “where once we were free,” he wonders if the song’s subject will rescue him. He adds, “Now my heart’s a mess, it’s so hard to confess how much my love for you is slowly fading.” He wants to know why the other person isn’t there in his arms.
Now the storyteller is sinking into dark water and he says, “You’ll be lost and my feelings for you have drowned.” He points out that his heart is “trapped in the sand,” where it suffocates. He asks why the song subject’s love is so difficult to understand.
The narrator talks about the song’s subject “wading in the deep end of an ocean full of secrets,” as he says that he tried to make the person his for a long time. He follows the other person’s footsteps on the shoreline and “they always lead me here to the silent beach of tears.”
As the song ends, our storyteller says, “I drove a thousand miles to get you out of my mind, but my car is haunted by the light of neon signs.” He dives into “eyes that once showed me paradise” and wonders, “How could I have been so blind?”
A gliding and utterly peaceful melody slips through the music as the drum beat adds shape to the opening of “Girls.” Waves wash as Kidburn reaches out with his silken and intensely affecting voice, while the low end undulates and the bass pulses.
The chorus bursts with affection and remembrance while the drums and bass throb on. I am moved by the depth of love within Kidburn’s vocals as they crest and the glimmering synth in the background sweeps with warming feelings. The drums continue to burst as the synth swirls, while the choir exhales with gentle emotion.
The drums continue to surge as the guitar carries a solo full of caring and nurturing emotion, while Kidburn catches the song’s mood and drives it home. As the song comes to an end, the synth drifts with soothing sensations and the drums continue to pulse before the track fades away.
The narrator reflects on the fact that another year has passed and he knows that eventually his daughter will be out of sight. She is tearing up his heart, as he muses, “Strange how time flies.”
Our storyteller points out that “girls suddenly turn into women” and adds that “their tears don’t lie when someone breaks their heart.” He reminds us that the heart that is broken is “the heart of your baby, the one who used to sleep in your arms until the end of time.” He closes with a reminder: “She’ll be your everything.”
“Fall In Love” comes to life as a plaintive sax flows into the music with powerful, ardent emotion. The guitar drifts through with touching immediacy as the drums pulsate and bells glimmer. Kidburn’s voice captures all the absolute yearning within the lyrics as the saxophone doubles the affection and longing. The lyrics are well conveyed by Kidburn’s voice, filling me with the weight of its emotion.
The chorus rises with bells permeating the music with rich luminosity. The drum beat and the chimes are joined by the soaring sax as it leaps upward. Kidburn’s voice trembles with memory and caring as the low end drives on. The vocals are full of soul and depth as the chiming notes flash with glimmering brightness and the drums and bass push forward.
The drums flourish and the guitar solo flies out, embodying the spirit of the song with intricacy, while the saxophone interweaves, adding another level of passion. The two instruments play off one another as the low end undulates. As the song comes to an end, the lead singer reaches out to pull me into the music.
Our storyteller says that if he had another chance with the song’s subject, he’d “try with you until the end” and dance with them once more. He decides that it doesn’t matter if they’re right or wrong because “we belong in Paradise.” He asks the other person to look into his eyes because this is “the time to find a way to make you stay.”
As they are together under the moonlight, the narrator says, “It’s time to break these chains and try to feel again.” He adds that if the song’s subject still wants to fall in love, they know his heart is still full of fire. He says, “Baby, you know it’s true if you wanted to fall in love tonight, you know that I would give my life to you.”
Our storyteller talks about both of them waiting on the dance floor as he says, “After all these years, I still remember that look in your eyes that tells me it’s time to find a way to make you stay.”
Emma Ballantine Dykes chants as sweeping wind blows to commence “(I Don’t Wanna) Go”. A gleaming synth carries a melody full of uplift and celebration, capturing an unbreakable love, propelled by Kidburn’s palpably expressive voice. The polished notes tumble as the drums burst and the guitar radiates the music with brilliancy.
The drums continue to throb as Kidburn encapsulates the welter of emotion within the lyrics. The energetic performance fills the music with longing as the guitar glistens. Emma Ballantine Dykes exhales in her warming voice as the guitar intermingles with it before the solo unfolds with equally tender emotion. Kidburn lets loose again, wringing every scintilla of emotion from the music. A string-like synth shimmers and the track pulses to an end.
The narrator doesn't want to leave the other person, adding, “Please don't let me go back now, I'm under your spell when you turn out the lights.” He feels like a long-lost love that night. He says the song’s subject feels “so good, so close to me” making him not want to move or breathe.
Our storyteller realizes he has to stay because “something about the way you call my name tells me that the time is right.” The other person holds him tightly and close, so that he doesn’t want to talk or move. He concludes, “I don't want to go right now, don't let me go.”
Conclusion
Fooled By The Rush Of Growing Up is an album that captures my heart with the sheer sincerity and depth of the performances, the beautifully wrought melodies and the gripping lyrics. The addition of talented guest contributors only intensifies the positive qualities of the music.
