Softpretty
This one has a fitting name for the atmosphere it conjures up. So soft and sparkly… it also stands out for combining the prettiest (there, full song title reference) traits of the songs in this EP: a fluffy, crystalline instrumental, and a beat that’s not too commanding, letting you lightly soar along with it.
Though probably what set it at the top for me is the lyrics. They’re very brief, but from my own interpretation, it’s quite the comforting, welcoming invitation. I feel invited by it to express myself more freely.
The last stretch of the track brings it to an even higher conclusion.
Last Chance for a Slow Dance
Of all the Fugazi tracks I absolutely loved (more than I can count with my hands), I didn’t expect to choose this one as my favorite. But my justification is simple: that riff has got to be the most brilliant riff I’ve heard, possibly in my life.
Isolated as in the intro, it’s already so instilled with a tense emotion, but then the rest of harmony comes in, and that emotion is exponentiated. It’s so daunting. It loops through all the different chords, and it sounds right at home on top of all of them.
At the end, the chords it welcomed sit solemnly on their own in the greatest closing moment of their discography (well, maybe bar Argument).
Endsong
This is the last moment of The Cure’s immaculate comeback album from this year, and it’s easily where they shine the brightest.
Thanks to their usual keyboard-driven soundscape pairing with the sparse, tribal drumming, a rather triumphant mood is set up. And it takes its sweet time to settle in, before that squealing guitar pulls you into the wide.
You won’t even notice that six or so minutes have passed by when the vocals come in. Robert Smith sighs a defeated message, sounding more final than ever before. “It’s all gone”.
But even still, the music that he wallows on tells a different story, something of hope to be found even at the end of it all. Maybe it is there to rescue him, as well as to rescue us. Not a second is wasted in the 10-minute runtime of this heart-wrenching reflection on the ephemeral.
Pen Expers
The moment when the beat slightly drifts off in the beginning lets sit in how precariously held together it is. Clattery and aggressive, cold and mechanical. I played this to a friend and he dismissed it as “random slapping sounds”, which might as well be just what it is, like some sort of unwanted but necessary process taking place.
Then, you can start getting glimpses of the underlying melody, still drowned in the haze of the clatter. It’s such a beautiful melody. I tasked myself to describe the sound in one sentence, and what came up was “I’m inside a network switch watching all my memories, past and future, being transmitted in all directions, in UDP” (I’ll let you guess my university major).
I thank some random reviewer in your favorite amateur music reviewing site for enlightening me about this song.
Strawberry
It felt nice gatekeeping this song for the longest time. I wanted to be selfish and keep this gem to myself - I didn’t even tell my then-partner about it. Too bad now though!
It explores such an amazing sonic universe so concisely… it makes me wish it were a bit longer than 3 ½ minutes. Once that keys melody lays the rhythm so confidently and invitingly over the ambience it kicks off with, you’re simply defeated. The beauty of effect-drenched guitars and hazy sampled drums will promptly wash over you.
The crisp beat is a highlight btw!
ダイ・イン
Hearing this album got me in some needed touch with pop sensibilities: the ability to appreciate a good melody, for how bright and sugary it might be. And Frenesi excels at that in practically every second of this album.
This track, however, balances out the sugary with a sassier pulsating bassline, on top of which she effortlessly lays her hushed vocals.
It contrasts beautifully with the choruses, helping them to an ambiguous modal center that keeps you floating all throughout. The fluffy piano helps a lot in this feel.
Argument
Perhaps the most powerful statement Fugazi put on music is in this musically subdued song, contrastingly. Instead of power chords ringing out theatrically, we get the driest, gentlest hits, spaced out in an attention-grabbing manner.
Ian Mackaye begins calling out their distaste for war in a soft and hushed voice on top of a very evocative, colorful chord progression gently strummed out, with percussion to tastefully accent. It has maybe my favorite Fugazi verse, too:
“It’s all about strikes now, so here’s what’s striking me
That some punk could argue some moral ABCs”
The final cry of this makes it easily their best closer, and an apt one for their discography (so far! They’re still on hiatus! Right?)
天泣
Pretty poppy, pretty dancey. It makes me bob my head from side to side when it comes on. I fell in love with inabakumori’s kinda choppy production style so easily, and this song fails not to showcase it.
But what truly got me hooked on this particular track? It frankly is poppier and dancier than I’d wish for, after all.
For one, there’s the tense pre-choruses which stop the show briefly. And then there’s the solo section, with that awesome squealing melody giving way to the wide false ending, which the guitar lines up in a devastating manner. (Really what pulled me in the most is that C minor is my favorite key xd)
Rain Capsule
The synthwave label they give to Namitape shines through particularly here, as soon as those Vangelis-like synths kick off the track. But being real they’re far from my favorite aspect of it.
To cut the chase, it’s the chorus. It’s perfect. The fairly simple vocal melody (programmed with Kaai Yuki, you simply can’t go wrong with it) is snugly embraced by more complex chords, which simply sound amazing in combination.
The somewhat lo-fi sound of it is also a huge ramp-up to the feel, especially in that faded out guitar solo after the first chorus. Tacky? Maybe a bit. Does it scratch that very itch of nostalgia? You didn’t ask that, but yes is my answer.
Neo-Clone
I couldn’t leave this number out. For how goofy it sounds, it was a defining listen of that season for me. On top of that admittedly intricate-sounding drum beat (played by two drummers, not an octopus!), I didn’t delay to notice that the lyrics (sung with a very goofy tone) were describing that silly little creature on the cover for this album.
He is the neo-clone: a creature so silly it becomes dangerous and has to be put down every time, to then attempt constructing him again and again. This number, at the end of the album, uncovers the lore that envelops probably the rest of the album’s tracklist. And it sounds so cool! The tom-heavy drums, the juicy arpeggiated synths, the mild pain underneath the goof in John Dwyer’s voice in the coda. It was an instant favorite.
My 10 favorite songs this year! (2024)
This year I listened to so much music. Way too much. 39.6 % more music than I listened last year.
I need not mention that all these tracks are a 5/5 for me, do I? xD
Also, you can play most of these tracks by hovering on the big artwork beside them!