It’s 3am and I can’t sleep. I’m wading through submissions, we’re backed up. I am transfixed. The song is finished. I’m not ready for the next one. I immediately replay it. “All I ever wanted, was for you to be honest. You’re everything and nothing…” The hypnotic guitar and moving bass have me in another place. “Find me someone who doesn’t remind me of you.” How have I never heard this? Who is Lucy Branch and why isn’t she as famous as Beyonce? I’m ready for another track, but I know I will return to “Noosa”, as it was one of the best new songs I’ve heard in a long time. “I Thought I Knew” has more of a funk feel than “Noosa” which was straightforward indie/pop but is not short of melody. I am starting to get a feel for what Maxton Hunter does. Shit, here comes a nice little guitar solo. How do they get these vocal sounds? It replayed “Noosa”. Will I get any sleep? This is the catchiest fucking thing I’ve ever heard. It is longing in the perfect way. We can never reach that which is out of our reach. It’s right there, out of our grasp. Come here. Come a little closer. Maybe I’ll find a way to keep you close. Probably not. I skip to another track as it is starting to get to me, it is affecting me too much. Music can still move me? I thought I was an emotional corpse. “Trance With Me” starts like something off Jane’s Addiction’s “Nothing’s Shocking”, trance-like in every way. Interesting percussion, another incredible bassline. At just over 2 minutes, I get it. Jesus, “Hopeless Romance” is great too, slow, driving, an in the pocket groove.. Am I finally hearing Maxton sing the lead on “The Death of Eliot Hall”? These sounds are just incredible. Reverb for days, guitar placed perfectly, a rhythm section that is perfectly executed, and vocals that are simply mesmerizing, sheer beauty in a world of total shit. This shouldn’t exist. I can’t handle it. I will never get “Noosa” out of my head. I don’t want it to ever leave. Maybe I can keep it close to me, it is all I ever wanted.. it reminds me of you. You’re everything and nothing.. come here.. you’re everything I need. This is all too real at 3 in the morning..
- Joe Pugsley