22 metagirl: (22) I FEEL YOU EVERYWHERE

[23.12.12 EDIT: Fuck! I’ve only just clocked that the album title starts with ‘(22)’ and it’s actually landed at #22! Come on, that’s proof of God’s existence, no?]

I recently discovered I want to be goth which is gonna make my next album really fun. Hopefully won’t take 2 years this time

Elora in 2020

Well, it technically didn’t take two years. And it ain’t fucking goth. It’s a borderline work of genius though.

Usually, when a small, none-more-independent bedroom artists like Elora Faith releases a record that beautifully exhibits their deft songcraft and seemingly supernatural way around a melody, my chief response is to usually lament what world-humping genius they’d be capable of if they had access to the resources. Would this artist be able to produce a record as universally beloved as ‘Desire, I Want to Turn Into You‘ if only the production budget extended to bagpipes? Would the raw, stripped back Strokes trumping GIVE AND TAKE AND WITCHCRAFT really get to the next level if Elora could afford to hire someone to blow a referees’ whistle just before the musical break like Paradise City? What if the budget stretched far enough for Taylor Swift to rap over ANTIBODIES about “Getting down to this sick beat“? Would that make the song better?

NOW IT’S BACK TO THE INTRO, BACK TO THE BAR

23 Caroline Polachek: Desire, I Want to Turn Into You

I am my father’s daughter in the end
He says, “Watch your ego, watch your head, girl
You’re so smart, so talented
But now the water’s turning red
And it’s all your fault, and it’s all your mess

Welcome to my Island

Ah good, enough of that privileged bollocks like Olivia Rodrigo, time to hear from some real artists who have clawed their way up from the very bottom through sheer force of talent. When you’re willing to pull yourself up by your bootstraps like Caroline Polachek (daughter of James, classical musician, MD at Harvard, PHD at Berkley, taught Chinese History at Columbia and Princeton) then anyone can.

I’m being flippant, of course – I know! Me!? Can you imagine! – I just wanted to highlight how any discussion of supposed ‘privilege’ is a bit of a box of wasps, and a lot of people are going to have to get stung. Just be aware that you’re unlikely to sting just the person you intend to complain about if you open that box, and also that advantages exist beyond appearing on Disney shows growing up.

I WAS LOOKIN’ FOR A MAN WHO WAS ON THE SAME PAGE