Loud Sounds 17
Cover photo: Quinn Oulton – Sober cover art
"Loud Sounds" are some of the best new tracks we've found. We are coming back with the seventeenth installment of the series.
llawgne – Stay Where I Can See You (Pontus St Remix)
In our previous installment we covered a catchy remix of a track from llawgne 's excellent longplay Nevereveries. Today we are coming back with another remix – now a rework of our favourite tune from the album. Pontus St's version uncovers the fragile and vulnerable character of the vocals that was buried in the original's reverb-heavy wall-of-sound production while putting a spotlight on the dark track's poppier side. Here's what the remixer had to say about his work: "Stay Where I Can See You is a perfect song with amazing production. I was out on the country side and had it in my ears while taking long walks along a river. It was amazing. So, I knew I wasn't going to make it better. And after accepting that I felt free to just explore what else it could do. I asked llawgne for the files but my ADHD brain could't wait for him to send them so I started out just sampling the whole track instead. And that is those annoying sounds that much of the remix is based around. I later got my hands on all the files and took it from there. I think it ended up being the perfect ADHD version of a perfect pop song. This is what it sounds like when you are hunting for a dopamine kick every 3 seconds."
In our previous installment we covered a catchy remix of a track from llawgne 's excellent longplay Nevereveries. Today we are coming back with another remix – now a rework of our favourite tune from the album. Pontus St's version uncovers the fragile and vulnerable character of the vocals that was buried in the original's reverb-heavy wall-of-sound production while putting a spotlight on the dark track's poppier side. Here's what the remixer had to say about his work: "Stay Where I Can See You is a perfect song with amazing production. I was out on the country side and had it in my ears while taking long walks along a river. It was amazing. So, I knew I wasn't going to make it better. And after accepting that I felt free to just explore what else it could do. I asked llawgne for the files but my ADHD brain could't wait for him to send them so I started out just sampling the whole track instead. And that is those annoying sounds that much of the remix is based around. I later got my hands on all the files and took it from there. I think it ended up being the perfect ADHD version of a perfect pop song. This is what it sounds like when you are hunting for a dopamine kick every 3 seconds."
llawgne
Stay Where I Can See You is about when you get to know a person, and you trust that person. So you show everything, including your vulnerable spots and weaknesses, and that person exploits that knowledge for their own benefit and in the long run hurts you. The phrase "stay where I can see you" is often used to show concern for children – keep in my line of sight so you don't get lost. In this case the meaning is "stay where I can see you so you won't ever blindside me again". It's a variation of the old saying "keep you friends close, but your enemies closer". I like that the title of the song and the softness of the music stands in stark contrast to the somewhat bitter lyrics.
The wall of sound approach on this song was influenced by Jeff Lynne and his way of stacking acoustic guitars on each other to build this wall of strumming guitars. You can hear it all over the stuff he produced for Tom Petty, Roy Orbison and Travelling Wilburys. This song actually has a layer of acoustic guitars behind the electric ones - together it creates this soft wall that reminds me of Yo La Tengo. The extremely soft vocal delivery is definitely influenced by them as well.
I had a friend of mine put down some extra guitars - among them the slide in beginning. It really gives the song this magic opening. The organ-arpeggio in the choruses is heavily inspired by Philip Glass, because, well, he is the master of arpeggios on organs."
The wall of sound approach on this song was influenced by Jeff Lynne and his way of stacking acoustic guitars on each other to build this wall of strumming guitars. You can hear it all over the stuff he produced for Tom Petty, Roy Orbison and Travelling Wilburys. This song actually has a layer of acoustic guitars behind the electric ones - together it creates this soft wall that reminds me of Yo La Tengo. The extremely soft vocal delivery is definitely influenced by them as well.
I had a friend of mine put down some extra guitars - among them the slide in beginning. It really gives the song this magic opening. The organ-arpeggio in the choruses is heavily inspired by Philip Glass, because, well, he is the master of arpeggios on organs."
Make sure not to miss the original.
Quinn Oulton – Sober
London-based multi-instrumentalist, vocalist & producer Quinn Oulton's latest single was released by DeepMatter Records this November. Sober deals with the heavy topics of sexual assault and consent, avoiding metaphors and calling things what they are. The alt-R&B track talks about the dreadful emotions of the victim and mentions friends taking sides and disappearing.
London-based multi-instrumentalist, vocalist & producer Quinn Oulton's latest single was released by DeepMatter Records this November. Sober deals with the heavy topics of sexual assault and consent, avoiding metaphors and calling things what they are. The alt-R&B track talks about the dreadful emotions of the victim and mentions friends taking sides and disappearing.
Quinn Oulton
We are finally seeing more open discussion around sexual assault and violence against women in the wake of the #metoo movement. I've been seeing it spoken about on social media and the news more and more, and I wanted to write a song to contribute to this dialogue. In particular, I wanted to bring up one aspect of it that I feel has been largely ignored, which is when sexual assault happens within a friendship group. It seems to me that when sexual assault happens within a friendship group, men are given the benefit of the doubt, whereas women's experiences are questioned or ignored. This often leads to women feeling isolated and alone. This is really frustrating, given that the majority of sexual assaults happen between people that know each other. I want to express full solidarity with women who have experienced this, and hope that this song encourages people to be receptive to those who ask them for support
Also check out Green Acid from Quinn's labelmate Shunaji.