"Hand-Me-Down" by UK singer-songwriter, musician Aayushi has a majestic sweep despite it's lo-fi ambience. I, in fact, flashed on the iconic 60's "A Whiter Shade of Pale" by the British rock band Procol Harum which I know is a bit odd considering the two songs don't share the same cadence and the fuzzy synth sounds here don't have the tubular tones of a large Hammond Organ, but still there is something about Aayushi's foggy flood of sadness that crosses all those years. I thought of Beach House too and "Hand-Me-Down" is the kind of song that, if in the right somber mood, would cause me to roll up in the fetal positions on the floor wrapped up in a blanket of sadness.
Of the song, Aayushi shares: "Hand-me-downs are cool. Clothes hanging on the branches of a family tree. I wrote a moody, rainy day song about things get passed down through a family. Intergenerational sorrow."
"Her father,
he doesn't keep still for too long,
I feel him stumbling ahead,
an open net to catch his thoughts.
And her sister,
her punchlines always hurt,
everyone laughing as she says
"I wanted the ground to swallow me up".
And her brother,
he stole some clothes when he was a boy,
so he didn't have to feel anything
through himself anymore.
And their mother,
she doesn't tell them when she's scared,
instead she moves with an imaginary"
The thing about sad songs is that they can ultimately give you the strength to turn away from the things or people that serve up the pain to you, the bittersweet pie of emotions that can end up making you sick in the end. Therein lies the beauty.
-Robb Donker Curtius
THE FACTS AS WE KNOW THEM - PRESS NOTES:
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Aayushi is a musician from the UK. She writes strikingly tender songs, pairing lo-fi ambience with poetic allegory. Citing Mitski, Neutral Milk Hotel and Elliott Smith as influences, she takes beautifully written poems and pins them to the sparsest of instrumental emotion. Her songs often explore childhood memories, family relationships and recurring dreams.
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