Synth Single Review: “Couldn't It Be Me?” by Color Theory

by Karl Magi

Color Theory’s “Couldn't It Be Me?” exudes shivering fragility from the softly brushing background and Color Theory’s voice hangs on the edge of emotional delicacy as it transmits a deep attraction  around a melody which slowly bubbles up and trickles in round tones. 

The sweeping background distance contrasts with the warmth and engagement of the vocals while a piano emphasizes anticipatory wanting. Color Theory pulls me into feelings that mingle hope with anxiety. 

As the distinctive vocals create muffled tenderness, circular arpeggios glide with soothing peace and a velvety piano. A computerized melodic pattern weaves affection while chimes evoke tiny flickers of excitement and the song comes to an end on an active underpinning throb.

Both the song’s subject and the narrator can't deny what's going on or "pretend the brush of your hand was a slip." The other person used to tell him everything but "now the rush of saying too much makes us sick." He asks if there's ever a chance of falling when they're leaning on his arm with each step.

"Sometimes when you stare, hanging in the air," our storyteller finds himself awaiting a sign while their heartbeats come together and break the spell as he asks, “Couldn't it be me? " A shiver runs down his back and he wonders if he and the song's subject will "test our resolve." He points out that friendships evolve and choices get made as he once again asks, "Couldn't it be me?"

Speaking of the "chalk outlines of relationships," the narrator suggests that they've "swallowed our pride for too long” but as he starts to make a confession (more or less) the other person has already changed to the subject. He concludes: "Would a casual kiss be such a risk? I think I already know the answer. "

Synth Single Review: “City of Once” by W O L F C L U B

by Karl Magi

W O L F C L U B’s “City of Once” begins with a languid melodic pattern that glimmers like skyscrapers on the horizon and a synth creates muffled delicacy before the exhaling vocals caress like soft hands on warm skin. The lead singer finds the essence of the lyrics, in touch with their affection and emptiness, bringing together brokenness and desire. 

In the distance, a drift of notes floats before massive percussion presses on. Sunburnt passion fills the vocals as they reach me with their earnest yearning. Phil Smith’s guitar has a slightly gruff tone carries melodic entanglements that tremble with ferocious feeling. 

The lead singer’s voice has a vulnerable quality that permeates the music with tragic love above a heavy reverberation. The chorus climbs with a nostalgic haze that extends above the foundational pulse before the song comes to a close on Phil Smith’s guitar as it reflects bereft passion in its interwoven sound.

As she drowns herself in the song's subject's past, our storyteller is "trapped in a figure of eight" as she trips over the words she wants to say  "forever, that there's no escape." She feels clumsy with the other person and her soul as she fails to “call myself brave." Ink from the photograph’s frame covers her hands and "the monochrome spills from the page."

Feeling "grazed by the summer," the narrator doesn't think she can recover and she's being kicked out anyways. She says there's "no time to remember, just time to surrender." She'll "meet you in the city of once," and embrace the song's subject there for eternity but that won't be enough. she adds "I'll starve or suffocate in your love” if that's what she’s feeling.

"Stand by the glass just to watch you sway, I'm vacant in all the right ways "as our storyteller tears at her heart so that the song's subject could stay, "an ultrasound mapping your veins."

Synth Single Review: “Entanglement” by Tape Arcade

by Karl Magi

Tape Arcade’s “Entanglement” moves with velvety sounds which slowly expand and rise with an underlying weight that supports the starlit blanket that moves with more force, coming to a point with chirping tones and a steady ringing. The foundational heaviness contrasts with a radiant halo while the percussive heartbeat creates gentle, but insistent forward motion. 

Each twinkling note calls to mind one more star in the firmament, broadcasting eons old light while the continual throb evokes a pulsar. Tones tumble over each other in liquid motion while radiance, like the carpet of ethereal structures cast across the universe, spills outward. A tender, timeless melody contrasts with the unending repetition and the even beat that shape it. 

Carrying me away, the music roams with broad smoothness, while high notes bring to mind comets streaking across the night sky. Synth-lit shimmer entangles with engaging elegance to conjure up the wonder of stargazing before the track ends on piano notes, as fragile as stardust.

Synth Single Review: “Game Over” by Saturday AM

by Karl Magi

Saturday AM’s “Game Over” interweaves a series of ethereal chords that spread with dreaming melancholy and a tide of delicately illuminating synth before the vocals slip with such an ache that my heart clenches in sympathy, carrying a melody that bleeds tenderness. 

Matt Freeland’s wet-sheened guitar notes cascade into an evocation of lights passing by on a late night highway before Aaron Boyd grasps all of the feelings that pierce the melody’s smooth sparkle. The feeling of late night driving, a head full of thought, permeates the song as Aaron Boyd’s voice reaches into a well of heartfelt emotion to capture the listener. 

A declaration of earnest affection fills the vocals while the guitar mingles with chimes that call to mind streetlights flickering off of a windshield. All of the musical elements drift mournfully, intermingling with the touching vocals before the drums erupt a final time along with Aaron Boyd’'s undeniably expressive performance before the song ends. 

As he still recalls the letter that the song’s subject sent him in late September, the narrator says that they were so high and the other person said they didn't know what they were looking for. He adds, "I wish you well but this is goodbye." He urges the audience not to throw everything away "for a love that leaves you cold" and avoid pursuing the same errors that never let you go.

Our storyteller reminds the audience that,"it might feel impossible, but you will never know" and what we choose to do “can change what you call home." Remembering the early summer days and nights when everything was brand new, he says, "you caught me off guard, fell right into my life and it became ours" and he knew it was right at that moment.

As he promises that he'll never take the song’s subject for granted, the narrator asks the other person to hold his hand and hold on tight. He tells the other person "baby, you don't need to worry, we'll be in no hurry" as he adds that they're safe tonight by his side. He concludes by saying, "take my hand, we've come so far now."