Track of the Moment: Skip to the Good Part by He is We

They say you aren’t a FoaLiaBMB writer until you do a Track of the Moment, which means that my well thought out pieces on Die Antwoord and Turquoise Jeep Records weren’t officially from a Frog writer. Let’s fix that.

Now, as New Jersey White Boy, I shed some light on the more underground (and, frankly, usually better) artists of the hip-hip/rap game. But that doesn’t mean my collection doesn’t include other music that I love just as much. And to show that, I’m doing a complete 180 from rap and choosing the indie-pop duo He is We.

He is We makes 2 kinds of songs – pretty, and pretty sad. They’re essentially the indie equivalent of Taylor Swift. You want a song to cry to? Throw on “Blame it on the Rain”. Need a song to dance with your honey? Tell the DJ to put on “All About Us”. These songs, along with their entire oeuvre, are a good mixture of sad, sad but hopeful and I’m-so-super-happy-because-I’m-so-in-love-right-now. They speak to the 14 year old girl in all of us; the one who falls in hopelessly in love, the one whose heart breaks when their crush doesn’t feel the same way, the one who cries herself to sleep at night but wakes up with the knowledge that there is someone out there who will love her. We all have felt at least one of these feelings at some point (You haven’t? Just me? …Oh), and Rachel Taylor knows exactly how to express them. She sings with so much emotion, that you can’t help think back on past relationships, or wanted relationships.

Trevor Kelly’s compositions are just like a John Williams score; masterfully developed to build into fantastic crescendos when needed, drop away to let Rachel’s voice shine, and just generally create the proper mood and tone for the song. But usually, they’re so simple; it reminds me of someone sitting in their room, tapping away on a piano or strumming guitar with basic chords and progressions as they sing about lost love. On top of that, you have Rachel’s lyricism, which, while slightly generic at times, is carefully worded to sound almost like she’s talking about you and not about some general feeling we all share (I know. Shut up). You aren’t human if you don’t walk away from these songs feeling happy/sad. They have a lasting impact, and can help you get through some bad times, or help brighten your day up.

Youtube is littered with their songs; check them out, and thank me later. Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to listen to some Disturbed and Rammstein to get my man card back.