This is a new track from Captain Handsome, otherwise known as Lily, lead singer and guitarist of superb indie quartet Fightmilk, who are much reviewed on this site. It is a forerunner to a an EP due in the new year.
Starting with an unobtrusive rhythmic guitar line the lyric is a clever inversion of expectations. What seems like a cheery animal-friendly sentiment is set out as a bleak metaphor for unrequited love.. ‘….I wish I had a dog…I wish I had something that I knew how to love…as soon as I wake up I follow you around till you shake me off….’, but it is not the full story and gives way to the declaration in the second verse, delivered with genuine feeling ‘….and I just realised I’ve been like this my entire life especially at night…and I wish I didn’t care…’.
There is a chorus ‘…I am having so much fun, call my name and I will come….’, but not particularly lifting the emotions. If this was a Fightmilk track the rest of the band would have kicked in by now, with power chords and killer drums but this track is too clever for anything as overt, the only extra instrumental diversion is an other-worldly synth lingering or popping in the background.
It is a sad, plaintive piece but in its gentle well-crafted way it is really quite powerful.
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