Made in a way which enables endless meanings to be derived through its composition and eerie and existentialist lyrics, 'Something Here' is beautifully contradictory.
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Taken from Berklee-educated Jackson Phillips’ upcoming debut Day Wave album The Days We Had, ‘Something Here’ has the rare ability to generate a variety of emotional responses with an underlying weariness to its upbeat and motivational reminder to live. Without analysing the lyrics too deeply, it feels like a simple track dressed up in a complex fashion – the verse endings (“I feel like they’re listening,” “I feel like nothing’s real”) exhibit paranoia and general disengagement from the world to contrast the traces of optimism in the chorus (“There’s something here, oh / And my head feels heavy”).
Yet, somehow its composition invokes feelings of fluidity and movement with hazy nostalgic memories being brought into the light, much like other portions of Day Wave discography. The use of guitars, drums, and bass by multi-instrumentalist Phillips develops this sound, which complements the contradiction of the existentialist verses and the hopeful chorus self-assurance and hopefulness. Whilst earlier success had been localised largely to the California region with a brace of EPs (Headcase and Hard To Read), with the album nearing it is clear this mesmerising formula is what the dreamy project needs in order to spread.
‘Something Here’ is out now via Harvest Records
