Matthew Bailey and the dark / light hypnotic flirtation of "Diamonds"

 

"mommy's ring glittering, mommy's string that she wears round her neck sparkling..."


Like all great art, the song "Diamonds" by Toronto-based musician and producer, Matthew Bailey is both reflective and translucent like the clear and colorless crystalline form of pure carbon it takes as it's title. That is to say it feels dramatically different in emotional tone depending on who listens. Let's just say that if one is pure of heart (King Arthurs : Legend of the Stone comes to mind) or exquisitely naive then the song's pretty hypnotic, obsessive nature might feel as beautiful as Marylyn Monroe bathing in baubles while tuxedos dance in the background but if one is sufficiently cynical the song flips and feels darker, weirder, like something in a David Lynch movie with diamonds encrusted with blood. 

This double sided coin makes the song even more vastly interesting to me as my mind flips between both scenarios. In either setting Bailey does a masterful job in terms of cajoling. “Diamonds,” explores the life of a character inspired by the Canadian diamond mining tycoon and geologist, Eira Thomas.

Bailey shares:

"Reading Ed Caesar’s profile of her (Eira's) company in The New Yorker led me to wonder about her personal life. Who was she, behind the renegade businesswoman exterior? And what was her emotional journey, beyond the building of her diamond empire? I imagined a fictionalized version of her life story and explored it through the song’s narrative.

Saxophonist Karen Ng and vocalist Ivy Mairi collaborated with me on “Diamonds.” The titular refrain which Mairi sings is meant to become a hypnotic mantra. Eventually, it sheds its literal meaning and becomes a standin for Thomas’s life, evoking a sense of opulence and excess while also questioning its validity."

 "Diamonds" is, in the end, a surreal trip for me. It is drop dead gorgeous and weird at the same time and Karen Ng's sax work pushes it over the edge. I might lean more toward the subversive feelings that the song arises in my head and heart especially considering I've always viewed diamonds and the reason for owning them perverse, worse than wearing fur. "Diamonds" is the kind of song that would work well in dark material like the current Apple TV psychological thriller Severance or something like that. 

-Robb Donker Curtius 

matthewbaileymusic · Diamonds

THE FACTS AS WE KNOW THEM - PRESS NOTES:

https://soundcloud.com/matthewbaileymusic

https://www.instagram.com/matthewbaileymusic/

https://open.spotify.com/artist/4Qi3NzTtuXyrgZbsp7lzZa


Matthew Bailey moved to Toronto post-Y2K and has been working as a musician and producer ever since. Music Works wrote about his work that, “Bailey’s curious mind conjures enthralling animated soundscapes for wired daydreamers,” aptly describing his current aesthetic aspirations and devotions. Matthew has toured US/EU/CAN performing in the bands of some of Canada’s top songwriters, such Andy Shauf and Charlotte Cornfield. When not working in the studio or on the road performing, he can be found drifting through midi-heaven in his bedroom.

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 Matthew Bailey, singer songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, composer, producer, Canada, midi-heaven in his bedroom, "Diamonds", weird daydreams, avant pop,