Some men don't know how to behave
at least we sometimes get good music out of it
How do we feel about the click-baity subject line here? (Is it click-bait if it’s true? Something to think about). Happy Friday. This week felt both very long and very short. I have a lot of thoughts about the various densities of time but we can’t open that can of worms here. It turns out time both flies and stops when you’re spending 80% of your free time on the couch watching TikToks of women cleaning their all white apartments with $400 appliances and amber colored spray bottles of eco-friendly something or other. This is whatever the version of a recession indicator is but for my mental health.
Back to the subject line. It’s actually a lyric lifted from my favorite music release of the last week (and contending for favorite of the year): the song “P.U.N.C.T.U.A.L.I.T.Y.” by Issy Wood off her latest EP The Blame, Pt. 6. This is sort of my platonic ideal of pop - sexy, vibey music crackling with brilliant and surprising lyrics that, at every turn, go along with then against the feeling of the music.
The entirety of The Blame, Pt 6 is strewn with sparkles of wit and gut punches of honesty. (This is what I aspire to with my podcast but tend to mostly just land at dumb bitch who says “fucking” a lot). Like for example this bit from the song “Nothing”:
Could’ve sworn I was just
Starved but brave
In 2008
Sneaking a boy into my mother’s place
He’d kiss me and tell me not to say a word
I understood that I could be a source of shame
There’s a little sound just after this verse which sounds both like a laugh and a cry - perfect. Just perfect. I’m really enjoying how each listen through of this EP reveals new things to me. Some music is a blanket and some music is caffeine. Also I don’t want to COMPARE WOMEN (#notallwomen) but it did make me think of Lily Allen’s recent album. (Some men don’t know how to behave etc).
I enjoyed West End Girl (I do hear the way Wood is firmly within her lineage) and it was interesting to notice how Allen’s power lays in the brutal, blow-by-blow, “then this happened” style narration while I think Wood is playing with different paints (do you see what I did there? Because she is also a painter…). Namely bobbing and weaving, lulling you with her velvet, feline voice, then jabbing you with pointed lyrics and unexpected sounds. It’s so satisfying to listen to.
In other news, it looks like I’m coming to London again for a few weeks mid-December through the first week of January living out my Richard Curtis fantasies if anyone wants to invite me to anything cool, give me presents, or recommend things I can do with my family (who has the Paddington Musical plug???).