What makes a song feel nostalgic? Is it the key signature, a familiar set of chords we’ve heard before causing a subconscious association with the past? Maybe it’s a set of lyrics that reminds us of something in our childhood, or something we feel like we truly understand.
In any of these cases, I feel Anson Seabra has somehow managed to capture that feeling in many, if not all, of his songs.
Anson is actually a very new artist. His first single, and probably most famous song, “Welcome to Wonderland,” came out in 2018. It was huge on TikTok and still shows its face every once in a while on my feed. He followed up later that year with “Robin Hood.”
In 2019 he released quite a few more singles including “I Can’t Carry This Anymore,” a cover of “Can You Feel The Love Tonight,” “That’s Us,” “Broken,” “Last Time” and “Trying My Best.” He was on fire for releases. Each song was different from the last while still keeping that nostalgic feeling.
This year, 2020, has been just as strong for him. He released a variety of singles again including “Can You Hear Me,” “Emerald Eyes,” “Hindenburg Lover” and “Somewhere in Ann Arbor.” All these previous singles culminated in his first album, “Songs I Wrote In My Bedroom.”
Most recently, back in July 2020, he released another single titled “Hurricane.”
What more can I say about Anson Seabra? He doesn’t feel like the typical “I’m depressed” artist. He doesn’t play into the “I hate women” mumble rap songs or the deadpan “I’m really sad, buy my music” strategy that modern pop artists have dipped their toes into.
You can feel the pain in his voice, the sadness that speaks to this generation. He’s lived through the same stuff we have, and he feels it. And, his piano playing speaks volumes more than any minor key trap beat or false sense of happiness pop-backing track ever could.
Maybe that’s it, the association of pianos and low tempo songs and minor keys that just makes all of his music feel the way it does. Either way, his music is well worth the listen.
I’m going to be honest; there’s really only one song I’d like to talk about this week.
“Somewhere in Ann Arbor:” this is the first song I heard on shuffle on a playlist I hadn’t listened to in a long, long time. This song came on and it just felt different from the rest because the lyrics spoke to me, spoke to that fear of making it in life but ultimately being dissatisfied and unhappy. You have it all, so why can’t you feel like it?
It’s like the emptiness of an unnecessary sequel. The story is done, why keep going? That’s the fear. I’m not sure if that’s a big one for anyone else, but this song certainly captures it very well.
Keeping up with our past artists, there were also a few songs released within the past (yeesh) three weeks. Gorillaz partnered with Beck for “Valley of the Pagans.” Dizzy had two releases, “Merma” with Mauu and “Light Years.” grandson released a cover of “One Step Closer,” and I am in love with it.
BANNERS released a Christmas cover of “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas.” I was surprised at first, but thinking back on it, with his style of music and sudden blast of fame, it was inevitable. Finally, Lorn released a new EP,“THE MAP,” with three new songs.
That’s all for this week. As always, send feedback or criticism to [email protected]. Maybe I’ll see you all next week. Only time will tell.