Indie folk duo Arliston have just released their wondrous new single 'Vertical'. Ahead of their highly anticipated forthcoming album, we sat down with them to learn 5 songs they love for FLEX!
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1. Bon Iver - Hey, Ma
I first heard this when Bon Iver played live at All Points East. They had finished their set and were playing some singles from the (then) upcoming album on the PA system. I was absolutely blown away. They blowing-away-ed-ness only increased when I got home, tried to learn it and discovered that it basically has a 2 chord chorus. This is not exceptional in and of itself (there are more than a few songs with 2 chord choruses) but NONE of them sound quite as harmonically rich and satisfying as this. Justin Vernon has a habit of defying music-physics, and this is a prime example.
2. The National - Nobody Else Will Be There
For me, and for Arliston in general this is one of our most referenced songs. This is the song we are always trying to write, and always falling short of. The way that out of sheer simplicity (Just piano, vocals and occasional 16ths on a hi-hat) something with such kaleidoscopic detail can be created is a magic trick that never gets old. I will always want to see that multicoloured rabbit being pulled out of that nondescript hat.
3. Big Red Machine - Lyla
The thing I find most exciting about BRM is the way that textures and beats become interchangeable. They are woven together in a monolith which makes you feel like the song is not merely a collection of separate instruments all doing different things, but is rather a living, breathing thing. Rhythm is king in BRM, you rarely get a sense of the lyrical content, and you rarely need to.
4. Leif Vollebekk - Tallahassee
Leif Vollebekk sits on that compelling crossroads between blues, jazz and country. His songs rarely have more than a piano and a drum-kit, but out of that he conjures all kinds of neck snapping groove and emotion. ‘Tallahassee’ always, somehow, feels like home despite having grown up in Sussex and barely being able to point it out on a map of the US.
5. Steven Wilson Jr. - Kid
This is a new entry into my weekly rotation of artists, but it is a very very welcome one. Playing in alternate tunings on a nylon string guitar, and singing from a stony face that looks both 16 and 61 he’s my new favourite artist. The lyrical fluency and truth in ‘Kid’ (and actually in all of his songs) is something unusual. “Teenage baby had a baby, all those dreams turned into maybe, maybes now a healthy never, forever young ain’t young forever”
Stream 'Vertical' by Arliston below:
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