June, Be Good!

Summer’s a promise not a threat this year. I feel excited by it all. Thirteen days into June already, and I’m not sure how, but I feel proud about how much it has carried and all that is coming. 

Lucy Dacus’ Forever Is A Feeling is still on repeat. I have tried seven times (no exaggeration) to write about it. I think it’s one of the best records I’ve ever heard. Dacus has a lot to say about love and about God and I spend time with that record daily. I’ve also gotten to experience a record release party for it the first day it came out with my friend, E. We overdressed and failed to make friends, but got signed posters and I got a free tote bag. We also got gifted temporary tattoos of the title, which feels exactly poetic. I got to see Dacus live in March, pretty close to the stage. To finally SEE Dacus perform was almost spiritual for me. I’ve loved her art for a long time, and she was everything I wanted live. Still, I don’t know what I have to say about the record yet, but here’s my favorite line from it:

If the devil’s in the details,

then God is the gap in your teeth.

You are doing the Lord’s work

everytime you smile at me

A couple of my friends pitched Wednesday to me recently, specifically “Elderberry Wine”. It’s damn near the perfect indie rock song for this summer. The electric guitar is fun and cutesy without being silly. The vocals are tight without being too clean. It’s upbeat, celebratory, while still dancing with the darker emotions of summer. 

And your eyes are the green of tornado sky

Cuz even the best champagne still tastes like elderberry wine

I think I’m writing about songs and not albums lately because I’ve been on the hunt for the perfect song. And also, right now, I’m in the process of writing songs FOR an EP, but I’m not crafting the EP quite yet—So I’m more centered on quality and vibes then cohesion and story (quite yet). Lucy Dacus did an interview with Time recently about her favorite songs from various decades, and I’ve been obsessed with a lot of them. “Revelator” by Gillian Welch has been locked in. It has that insane quality Welch is so good at of being simple yet cutting, of telling you nothing and everything. There is plenty of alluding to the past and to some hints of mysticism without overcommitting. The guitar riff matches the texture of the lyrics. 

Up in the morning

Up and on the rideI drive into Corning

And all the spindles whine

And every day is getting straighter

Time’s the revelator