"when I had a dream / that you disappeared / while I waited at the station..."
The stunning surprises of "Backwards" by Fairhazel, the moniker of British / South African singer-songwriter Hugh Macdonald, feel not only translucent in magical ways but heavy in it's whimsy. Macdonald possesses a beautiful falsetto that he can draw out of his artistic arsenal at any time and he does so at the very beginning of "Backwards" against indie folk guitar, which (for me) feels like a wash of butterflies cascading around you. He sings, "Well I had a dream / that you disappeared / while I waited at the station / then I tried to call / but the phone won't ring / and I become impatient...", and the sense is dreamy but not in a dream at night sort of way but as if stepping straight into a dream suddenly.
When a drum beat and bubbling synths (as if from another time) percolate, you are engulfed inside this dream state all the way, "Run out to the road / Where I shout your name / But all my words are whispers / And you start to fade / Like a polaroid / If it all went backwards...", like fully within a dream and unable to get out. While I won't reveal other sonic aspects of the song as to ruin the inherent surprises, I will say that (for me) if this song were a movie it would absolutely be an A24 flick and written / directed by Charlie Kaufman. The sense of this very engaging track is loss and maybe not full detachment but maybe the sense of holding on to something tangible but having it slipping out of your fingertips or nearly so, I feel that kind of tensions.
This is what Fairhazel has to share about "Backwards":
This is what Fairhazel has to share about "Backwards":
"This song came from a nightmare I had about the person I love suddenly disappearing and no one having any memory of them but me. I wrote, produced, mixed & mastered this song on a laptop, with one microphone, a palm sized audio interface and a pair of headphones while travelling. It's the second single off of my album, "Other People's Houses". After listening, I recommend calling someone you love and reminding them you love them. xx"
Awwww, yes, that explains it. I look forward to delving into "Other People's Houses".
-Robb Donker Curtius
THE FACTS AS WE KNOW THEM
https://www.instagram.com/fairhazel_
https://www.facebook.com/fairhazel
WARNING! DISCLAIMER BEFORE LISTENING: absolutely unlistenable abysmal distasteful music. you'll need to go over to amazon.com and type in "deep ear cleaning tool" and order a pack of 10 because after you listen to these "songs", you might have to cleanse your entire being with some sage and a pack of incense from the smoke shop down the road, before visiting a Turkish bath house where they can scrub as many layers of your skin off with a hand woven wash cloth, so you can essential be reborn having never listened to this "music". about three months after you hear your first fairhazel song, and 30 packs of deep ear cleaning tools later, you may give up hope, and think there is no way to rid yourself of the egregious tones that still haunt the chambers of your cranium. if you recognise these symptoms, please call 1-800-FIX-EARS and make sure to mention the promo code "hairfazel" for 20% off after you call, a man who drives a 1996 white Toyota Tazz will meet you outside Leslie's pool supplies store on the intersection of Ventura Boulevard and Shirley Avenue in Los Angeles on Wednesday at 1:30pm. get in the back of the car, hand the driver your ID, passport and any other documents with your identity, he will hand you your new identity, and take you across state lines to your new home, where you will spend the rest of your days in hiding. so, really think about it first, are you sure you want to hit play?
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