booming harmonies

ok so for my next entry i'm a little bit inspired by two new recent albums. florence + the machine's everybody scream, and rosalia's lux. Specifically, i'm inspired by the songs drink deep (by florence), and magnolias (by rosalia). now, they contain this... element? of sorts, that i really, really love in my songs.

i'm not sure how to explain, but it's this orchestral feeling when a phrase/word/note/something is repeated and progressively becomes louder (or starts loud) and it feels like its consuming you in a way.. i'll refer to these moments as booming harmonies.

now, what harmonies boom? i'm going to add a bunch to this article and give timestamps where (note: i am a proud apple music user but i embed with spotify links and i'm just referring to timestamps on apple music so it may be different on the spotify links i use... oh well!)

song 1: florence & the machine - drink deep

ok so the booming harmony moment occurs at the 3:30-ish mark. it's just this harmony of sounds (no repeated words), but it just progresses (maybe along a scale? i'm not too sure i don't study music), and it feels enveloping in a way.

song 2: rosalia - magnolias

this harmony occurs at 1:48, when she repeats "tírame magnolias". also for the rest of these writeups there's not too much for me to add, so i'll just note down the timestamps (but i really love these moments and would highly recommend listening!)

song 3: caroline polachek - billions

this occurs at 3:40. and actually i will talk about this one because this is the other major song that inspired this writeup. she brings in some childrens? choir to repeatedly sing "i never felt so close to you" and it just sounds SO GOOD. probably my favourite caroline song.

song 4: the last dinner party boy - beautiful boy

so this can be heard around 2:31 (but it REALLY starts at 1:50). this is the more "classic" boom, where it starts off very quiet and every time the word "beautiful boy" is said, it gets louder and louder.

song 5: tyler, the creator - st. chroma

this is a much shorter one (at the 1:28 mark). but it's just this repetition of the same phrase that progressively gets bigger which i just love.

song 6: fka twigs - lonely but exciting road

this one is quite different than the rest in that it isn't some progressive boom. i just realized that maybe what i actually like are simply... harmonies. but i love every time twigs repeats "it's gonna be a lonely but exciting road". something about it just feels perfect for me.

song 7: lorde - white teeth teens

this harmony happens at the 3-minute mark. i just love when she repeats "everything works out so good / i wear the robe like no one could" (also ribs on the same album also has a FANTASTIC buildup of this harmony). also shoutout to the book white teeth by zadie smith which came up in conversation yesterday with a teacher (my favourite book of all time!)

song 8: kate bush - rocket's tail

this is the last one i'll write about for now. but kate bush brings in a bulgarian choir who become very prevalent at the 2:11 mark. it's so good