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 |  A blog about music from my unique perspective (also a spot for some poetry I’ve written) |
A blog, generally about music, usually for projects hosted by Jeff  . I may also write about the 48-Hour Media Prompt Challenge if I don't feel like writing a story or poem inspired by the given song. Other bits of poetry or different topics of discussion might end up here as well.![Merit Badge in WDC Media Prompt
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| My 17th pick is something a little different: an instrumental deep cut from the OneRepublic 2024 album Artificial Paradise. One of the most underrated and overlooked features of 1R as a band is their instrumental interludes. Songs like Sleep and All Fall Down (2007), Waking Up (2009), Don't Look Down and Au Revoir (2013) and Ships + Tides (2021) contain some amazing musical work, combining the cello, piano, synth and guitar to create magical, atmospheric soundscapes which fuel my imagination. When I saw that Artificial Paradise was going to have two entirely instrumental pieces and one song with almost no words, I knew I would be in for a classic 1R treat. Singapore is exactly the kind of piece I like to see from 1R: slow, dreamy, mystical, and intensely synesthetic, or capable of painting entirely unrelated images within my head. It opens with a simple string and quickly introduces a synth wave and a gentle, faraway vocal (even a faint touch of glockenspiel can be detected…) When I first listened to it, my initial thought, duly noted in my journal, was the opening sounds like "W's and the desert." I suppose the synth waves are "W-shaped." You can decide for yourself what a desert sounds like, particularly one under moonlight. Singapore advances into a suspenseful orchestral buildup, climaxing in a sweeping, swirling web of synths, strings and distant vocal harmonies, which gradually subsides into a peaceful outro, leaving us wondering what quietly momentous event just took place. It feels like the soundtrack for a movie, but if anything that's a rather limiting statement. Rather, Singapore is the movie, all by itself. As I unpacked, analyzed and consolidated the overarching themes of Artificial Paradise, I realized the synesthetic story Singapore is telling is that of an alien encounter, even of being "beamed up" into a new universe. This ties in with the album's at-times wistful themes of dreaming about the West Coast, playful surrealism and questioning what we know about reality, while at the same time holding onto those we have alongside us. The name Singapore is rather meaningless to me. It may be fairly random, in much the same way ID's 2012 track Amsterdam is randomly named. Or it could be that Ryan and the gang were staying in Singapore when they composed it. At any rate, this instrumental piece is a genuinely wonderful treat from OneRepublic, emblematic of what makes them special. Enjoy. Words: 405. |
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