"Tell me that you hate me / Tell me you don't want me / That I'm not enough / That I'm just too much"
As a music writer with too much on my plate I stare at the songs on my 'review' list and try to pull what feels right for the day, the time, the placement against other songs that have been recently published. It actually isn't a traditional list, it is post its on a wall with scribbles on them. Today, right now is the right time to offer, share "Hate Me" by bedroom pop artist Harmless, aka Los Angeles-based, Mexico City-born songwriter/producer Nacho Cano. It is a song that brightens my spirit every single time I listen, every time. That might seem weird given the lyrical content, the song opens with:
Tell me you don't want me
That I'm not enough
That I'm just too much
Baby is it cool?
If I wanna get over you
Baby, is it cool?
If I wanna be with someone new, so"
Somber lyrics to be sure, maybe even edging on depressive lyrics but the jubilant feeling persists because of the crystalline lounge pop tones and how they move against the beat and Nacho's pearly falsetto croon. I suppose I like this sort of bi-polar juxtaposition and I admittedly love songs that are coated with a thick patina of melancholia maybe because there is a sense here that feeling pain helps one navigate through it and, unfortunately, Nacho knows a lot about pain.
"Hate Me" is from Nacho's first full length since the 2012 Harmless album "I'm Sure". The new album "Springs Eternal" will drop on March 29th, 2024. (The following from press notes) [The almost decade-long gap was not intentional; instead, it was a result of almost being killed by a drunk driver in a hit-and-run crime while he was biking to work, the surgery to rebuild his spine and face, the long recovery that left him bedridden for a year, the court case that followed, and to top it off, the pandemic.]
I cannot imagine going through something like this especially in terms of taking the anger and not making it eat me up alive. Thankfully Nacho has his art as a point of reflection, a sonic tool to manifest his truth through art as something cathartic, as something healing.
From Liner Notes (bracketed):
[He wrote Springs Eternal in his small office-turned-home studio in Silverlake, CA, while reconciling with how his life has changed, how the crime still has long-lasting implications, and while trying to remember what it was like before when he was a blog-obsessed teenage immigrant who was excited to start a band and see it gain traction. The record was co-produced by Yves Rothman at the iconic Sunset Sound in only nine days. Cano really wanted to recreate the carefree writing style he had as a teen, so he put time limitations on the entire process, going with his gut and attempting not to overthink it. Springs Eternal will feature the recent singles “It’s Only You,” “Rosie,” “What U Want,” and “As I Lay Chillin.”
Today, Harmless shares the meticulously created music video for his hazy new single, “Hate Me.” Directed by Isabelle Aspin and Brian Smee with animation by Smee, background hand drawn by Aspin, and creature design and special animation by Haewon Lee, the video is an animated love letter to film from the directors and Cano.
The directors add, “the music video, and the meta-movie that’s being ‘documented’ through the video is inspired by one of our favorite eras of filmmaking— that magic moment straddling the millennium when movie making seems equal parts rooted in the past with practical effects, stunts, and sets, while also beckoning in the future of CGI— all gloriously documented through fabulous, revelatory behind the scenes documentaries. The video is a build-out of homages to our favorite featurettes— Trinity’s motorcycle sequence from The Matrix Reloaded, Eddie Murphy in an early ‘bluescreen hell’ behind the scenes on the Haunted Mansion, William Friedkin directing the knife fights in The Hunted— and the challenge and fun was pulling these moments together into the approximation of a fictional movie that could have existed alongside those films. We hope this video conveys our deep love and respect for the miraculous process of movie making, and our appreciation for all the labor that goes into every film, whether it makes a billion, or fades into obscurity…”
Nacho Cano was born in Mexico City, and now resides in Los Angeles. The songwriter/producer has released musical projects under the name Twin Cabins, Canito and, currently, Harmless. Immigrating to San Diego at ten years old, Cano used hip hop to expand the English he was learning to speak.
"Twin Cabins was done from my college dorm bedroom in an effort to make the music that I liked as well as a way to tell one of my crushes I liked them," says Cano. Canito is an extension of Cano's impeccable production work, "Sampling hip hop heavily influenced my process and how I make music. Canito is a reflection of that. It's an exercise that allows me to be a part of a genre that helped me feel American." Harmless is a colorful mix of emotions woven seamlessly with bright electronic synths, smooth vocals and the occasional playful saxophone. “Harmless translates the hopeless love I know from Mexico. Songs about impossible love, boleros in English.”]
Today, Harmless shares the meticulously created music video for his hazy new single, “Hate Me.” Directed by Isabelle Aspin and Brian Smee with animation by Smee, background hand drawn by Aspin, and creature design and special animation by Haewon Lee, the video is an animated love letter to film from the directors and Cano.
The directors add, “the music video, and the meta-movie that’s being ‘documented’ through the video is inspired by one of our favorite eras of filmmaking— that magic moment straddling the millennium when movie making seems equal parts rooted in the past with practical effects, stunts, and sets, while also beckoning in the future of CGI— all gloriously documented through fabulous, revelatory behind the scenes documentaries. The video is a build-out of homages to our favorite featurettes— Trinity’s motorcycle sequence from The Matrix Reloaded, Eddie Murphy in an early ‘bluescreen hell’ behind the scenes on the Haunted Mansion, William Friedkin directing the knife fights in The Hunted— and the challenge and fun was pulling these moments together into the approximation of a fictional movie that could have existed alongside those films. We hope this video conveys our deep love and respect for the miraculous process of movie making, and our appreciation for all the labor that goes into every film, whether it makes a billion, or fades into obscurity…”
Nacho Cano was born in Mexico City, and now resides in Los Angeles. The songwriter/producer has released musical projects under the name Twin Cabins, Canito and, currently, Harmless. Immigrating to San Diego at ten years old, Cano used hip hop to expand the English he was learning to speak.
"Twin Cabins was done from my college dorm bedroom in an effort to make the music that I liked as well as a way to tell one of my crushes I liked them," says Cano. Canito is an extension of Cano's impeccable production work, "Sampling hip hop heavily influenced my process and how I make music. Canito is a reflection of that. It's an exercise that allows me to be a part of a genre that helped me feel American." Harmless is a colorful mix of emotions woven seamlessly with bright electronic synths, smooth vocals and the occasional playful saxophone. “Harmless translates the hopeless love I know from Mexico. Songs about impossible love, boleros in English.”]
Absolutely digging the sound, spirit, aesthetic of "Hate Me" especially as framed within the utterly creative Official Video and look forward to delving into Harmless' upcoming album "Springs Eternal".
-Robb Donker Curtius
THE FACTS AS WE KNOW THEM
https://open.spotify.com/artist/5dYGaoCO0iaUZKfl9K8Gtd
https://www.instagram.com/yosoyharmless/
Nacho Cano was born in Mexico City, and now resides in Los Angeles. The songwriter/producer has released musical projects under the name Twin Cabins, Canito and, currently, Harmless. Immigrating to San Diego at ten years old, Cano used hip hop to expand the English he was learning to speak.
"Twin Cabins was done from my college dorm bedroom in an effort to make the music that I liked as well as a way to tell one of my crushes I liked them," says Cano. Canito is an extension of Cano's impeccable production work, "Sampling hip hop heavily influenced my process and how I make music. Canito is a reflection of that. It's an exercise that allows me to be a part of a genre that helped me feel American." Harmless is a colorful mix of emotions woven seamlessly with bright electronic synths, smooth vocals and the occasional playful saxophone. “Harmless translates the hopeless love I know from Mexico. Songs about impossible love, boleros in English.”
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