"paint a smile right on on your face / remember the things that I said to you / when you were up here all alone..."
Step into surreality whether through film or music and sometimes you can tap into something that inspires, that expands your horizons, opens your mind to new paradigm shifts or colors that you didn't even know existed. This need to broaden my outlook on many things and especially artful things is one reason why I am not fond of music theory or art schools of any sort because as much as they teach you about previous frames of context, they are still frames, they still enclose you, quantify, label and if what you are being taught is in a neat tidy box then, in some sense, you become a box instead of an open door.
But I digress, stepping into "Pretty" by SAMWOY, the musical persona of Sam Woywitka, and within seconds you feel in a maze of emotions. Opening like a music box and then erupting into synthwave power anchored with big drums and SAMWOY's audacious voice (something between a guttural empowered wail and an artful cry for help), there are surprising shifts, dramatic ones like when The Wizard of Oz explodes into color from black and white. The illusory spoken word section of "Pretty" stirred into lush, beautiful orchestrations that (to me) recalls the spoken "Late Lament" poem within The Moody Blues' "Nights in White Satin" (and voiced by keyboardist Mike Pinder), is just fucking gorgeous.
A truly special moment before the outro cascades in:
"Paint a smile right on your face / Remember the things that I said to you
Cause we're out here all alone / The weight of life hanging on your back
Reach for your hand, it reminds you of him / Flower in mud starting to peak out
The sound of laughter / It reminds you of home"
Cause we're out here all alone / The weight of life hanging on your back
Reach for your hand, it reminds you of him / Flower in mud starting to peak out
The sound of laughter / It reminds you of home"
"Pretty" is a heightened piece of music. As a soundscape it runs, dives in deep pools of psychedelia, and resurfaces, floating in an isolation tank. "Gorgeous melancholia" comes to mind, so does "a near life experience".
Interesting information from liner notes (as they say):
[In SamWoy’s musical universe, the mood often oscillates to euphoric highs, but pain is always right around the corner. Many of the songs engage with Woywitka’s scrape with death in a near-fatal car accident in his tiny hometown on Vancouver Island right as he was transitioning into adulthood. For Woywitka, engaging with the textures of punk and metal music that inspired him in formative years offers a method of communication with his adolescent self, providing healingfrom his traumatic past and a ladder out of darkness. For the listener, bearing witness to Woywitka’s ability to use creativity as a life raft can be a powerful testament to the power of self-actualization through music.]
Joy certainly shapes us but maybe pain shapes us more, it certainly makes us stronger, makes us chase our dreams harder, makes us hold those we love tighter.
Pretty is the focus track off SAMWOY's new album "Awkward Party" -
-Robb Donker Curtius
THE FACTS AS WE KNOW THEM
https://open.spotify.com/artist/4khtCx57NpDeXO1miYSmvO
https://www.instagram.com/sam.woy/
https://bfan.link/awkward-party
https://www.sam-woy.com/
SAMWOY—transcends genre distinctions in restless pursuit of sonic excitement, ear-scorching innovation, and deeply satisfying grooves and hooks. SAMWOY tracks are impossible to wrangle or pin down, as likely to delve into ambient bliss and lush orchestration as they are to get torn apart by buzzsaw synths and decapitated drums. Live, SAMWOY is a high-wire act of dramatic shifts between bangers and beauty—a rager where all forms of emotion are embraced. SAMWOY offerings cover—from jazzy odd-time drum grooves, to full-on ‘80s film soundtrack synthscapes, from deep and dance floor-ready four-on-the-floor beats, to beautiful, blurry atmospherics, and beyond. With his hands engaged in every facet of artistic creation—from performances to production to visuals—his compositions are truly distinct and personal. You’ll see: SAMWOY’s sonic spectrums are like no one else’s.
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