Circlesquare - Songs About Dancing and Drugs (Album)
The latest release from “Berlin by way of Vancouver” artist Circlesquare is the album Songs About Dancing and Drugs. It is such a refreshing piece of work and so pleasing to hear. It brought a smile to my face from the very first song. Though Circlesquare has been releasing records since the late 90s, I hadn’t heard of his work previously and was drawn in by the album title. Now I think this may just be my best musical discovery of the year.
Songs About Dancing and Drugs is a beautiful fusion of electro and shoegaze. The eight tracks are long, only one is under five minutes, and each is a unique explosion of sound and vibes, a little world unto itself, whilst also deliciously melting together to create a fantastic album. Each song is interesting and special enough to be a single whilst at the same time being able to blend together to give the record a feeling of unity. The lyrics alternate between heartbreak and ecstasy, sung with a voice which drips fragility. The record feels so precious I’m afraid to sway to it in case my movements interfere. The song Timely in particular feels almost sacred, like it is standing on the edge of a mountain and threatening to let go. I am reminded of that scene in American Beauty – “there’s just so much beauty in the world I feel like I can’t take it…like my heart’s going to cave in”.
This is a record to hold hands to, to experience those moments when everything may fall apart but for an instant it is perfect; a record for lonely nights and cold early mornings without sleep when sunlight feels seedy and only tea and blankets can save you. It is a record for moments of intense emotions that cannot be explained or held onto, that happen so fleetingly but with such force you later wonder how you survived such intensity and if perhaps you’d only imagined it. The use of beats usually associated with music to dance to adds such power to the songs because it is so unexpected, pushing the possibilities of expression and evocation through sound. I never thought electro could sound so sad and so beautiful and so, so very delicate.
There are songs which shake up the melancholy vibes, namely Ten To One, but the overall feelings on Songs About Dancing and Drugs are drawn from the bittersweet moments in life, the ones that you can’t remember the exact time of but can sure feel the effects.
Circlesquare makes beautiful music and this is one record everyone must listen to, regardless of what you consider your musical taste to be like. Something in here will pull at everybody’s heartstrings.
