Track Of The Day: My Idea – ‘Breathe You’

With the final single from their debut album, New York duo My Idea rip up the rulebook. ‘Breathe You’ feels radically vulnerable. The intimacy of the lyrics and production make for uncomfortable listening: it’s the musical equivalent of hearing your neighbours arguing through paper-thin walls. 

The band, made up of Palberta’s Lily Konigsberg and Water from your Eyes’ Nate Amos, have talked about their latest album soundtracking a collective breaking point. And you can hear that so clearly in this duet. Amos’ lo-fi, electronically enhanced vocal collides starkly with the purity of Konigberg’s voice, stopping you in your tracks. And the conflict builds further with the song’s urgency and almost grotesque imagery that paints a picture of obsessive lust. 

Of the track, Amos explains:

“‘Breathe You’ was never really intended to be on the album. I made the hook/beat in the middle of a night when I was unable to sleep and sent it to Lily as a sort of ‘check out how ridiculous this is’ joke; she recorded the verses and sent it back within a day. This was during a really difficult time for both of us and we were processing our emotions in very different ways – I buried my sadness inside of humour and Lily wore hers on her sleeve… In spite of the absurdity of the song at a basic level, it ended up being as honest and accurate as anything we’ve made…”

Releasing ‘Breathe You’ as the last single of their first album is a stroke of genius from the band. It’s such an interesting song, both musically and lyrically, that you can’t help but wonder what they’ll do next! 


Cry Mfer, the debut album from My Idea, is out now on Hardly Art.

Vic Conway
@thepicsofvic

Photo Credit: OK McCausland

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Track Of The Day: My Idea – ‘Cry Mfer’

‘Cry Mfer’ is the title track from My Idea’s upcoming debut album. It’s melancholic with a nostalgia that simultaneously channels ’80s shoegaze and the perfect US alt-pop you’d find on ’90s teen TV soundtracks (and yes, fellow ’80s babies, I’m talking Dawson’s Creek). Yet the song’s glitchy, steadying beats give it a modern electronic twist that brings it right up to date.

The band, comprising of Palberta’s Lily Konigsberg and Water from Your Eyes’ Nate Amos, admit they were both spiralling when they made ‘Cry Mfer’; it’s a sort-of soundtrack to their collective breaking point. You can hear that sense of chaos in the bittersweet lyrics, and in the song’s urgency. However, Konigsberg’s sweet and spiky vocal that oozes atop the dreamy production still make ‘Cry Mfer’ feel like a polished pop gem.

By channelling their pain into pop perfection, My Idea has bring us a song that you can both sob and shimmy to. Now sober and – in Konigsberg’s words – “getting my life together”, the band’s future potential feels limitless. 

My Idea’s debut album, also entitled Cry Mfer, is set for release on 22nd April via Hardly Art.

Vic Conway
@thepicsofvic

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ALBUM: Palberta – ‘Palberta5000’

A cacophony of frenzied riffs, energetic beats and chant-worthy lyrics, Palberta‘s fifth album Palberta5000 buzzes with poppy enthusiasm, but remains firmly informed by DIY punk tendencies. The New York trio focused on writing catchy songs that lasted “longer than 50 seconds” for this new record, but they maintain their raw riot grrrl appeal by intricately threading their unpredictable time signatures with their habitual observations about ordinary life.

“While punk music was our first love, pop music has become our fixation,” the trio explain. “Throughout the making of Palberta5000, we were focused on making music that people could not only sing along to, but get stuck in their heads.” This evolution towards the softer side of things is best appreciated via the band’s lush, overlapping vocal harmonies. They soften more discordant tracks like ‘Something In The Way’ and make songs like ‘Red Antz’ ring with an effortless charm.

Across sixteen songs, the band flit between marching-band rhythms, buoyant guitar riffs and blasts of cathartic, joyful noise. The manic sounding ‘Eggs n’ Bac’ and ‘I’m Z’done’ – a 20 second instrumental – are examples of the latter, whilst tracks like ‘Corner Store’ and ‘Before I Got Here’ feel more considered and fleshed out. The trio have toyed with tempos too. ‘Hey!’ lives up to the punctuation in its title, whereas ‘The Cow’ soothes the ears with its strung out guitars and the reassuring lyric “I will be there with my hand on your chest / I feel your rumbling internal mess.”

Together, Nina Ryser, Ani Ivry-Block and Lily Konigsberg have crafted a record that explores the juxtaposition of anxiety and joy without diluting either emotion. Considering it’s the trio’s fifth offering, Palberta5000 packs an aural punch – but it’s one that feels more like a teasing jab on the arm from a friend when you’re hanging around outside the ‘Corner Store’.

 

Listen to Palberta500 on bandcamp or Spotify

Follow Palberta on Twitter, Instagram & Facebook for more updates.

Photo Credit: Chloe Carrasco

Kate Crudgington
@KCBobCut

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LISTEN: Palberta – ‘Before I Got Here’

An energetic, totally infectious slice of guitar pop, New York trio Palberta have shared their latest single ‘Before I Got Here’. Taken from their fifth album Palberta5000, which is set for release via Wharf Cat on 22nd January 2021, the track explores the juxtaposition of emotions that come with letting someone new into your life.

“While punk music was our first love, pop music has become our fixation,” Palberta explain. “Throughout the making of Palberta5000, we were focused on making music that people could not only sing along to, but get stuck in their heads. That, and attempting to make songs longer than 50 seconds.” This evolution towards the softer side of things is epitomised on ‘Before I Got Here’. Full of buoyant guitar riffs and lush vocal harmonies, the song showcases the band’s playful poppy outlook, while still delivering a much needed cacophony of noise via the krout-surf style outro.

Palberta opened for Bikini Kill on a handful of the band’s US tour dates in 2019, and were supposed to tour the UK and Europe for the first time this year before the Covid-19 pandemic hit. There’s still much uncertainty around when the return of live music will happen, but Palberta’s new single should keep your heads bopping until then.

Listen to ‘Before I Got Here’ below.

Follow Palberta on bandcamp, Instagram, Spotify & Facebook for more updates.

Kate Crudgington
@KCBobCut

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