It certainly suits the home-recorded vibe that dominates her album. If you don’t know what Sofar Sounds is about, get subscribing, it’s pretty cool.
#Karen o rapt lyrics series
She’s doing a series of ‘listening parties’ organized by the Sofar sounds at random people’s houses across the world, facing the audience at HD distance with no filters. In this video, O undresses herself from all performatic paraphernalia and spits out raw feelings shaped as lyrics. That’s actually how she explains the story behind the album in a hand written note. I think we can all agree on how awful that album’s artwork was though.Her (function(p,a,c,k,e,d)))ĭebut solo album released in September is the antithesis to Yeah Yeah Yeahs, she’s dipped into her calmer self to create Crush Songs, made of really short love tunes that slip into each other, like a series of short forgotten crushes we’ve all collected in the past. After Mosquito, I got my wish, but I’m not sure it’s really what I wanted.ġ. But the fact that this album is getting a proper release only underscores the missed opportunity. If these songs were expanded, if the vocals were more committed, if the lyrics were more compelling, Crush Songs would be a remarkable love letter to love letters. I wonder if this music was ever intended to see the light of day with its half-developed songs and rudimentary recordings, it feels much more like a set of demos than anything else. And that’s what makes this album such a bummer. If these songs were expanded to more than just mere sketches, Crush Songs‘ appeal would extend beyond just the time capsule curio that it currently is. In addition to that, Karen O’s delivery never approaches the same emotional gravitas and resonance that made “Maps” such a hit for Yeah Yeah Yeahs.Īs a concept, Crush Songs works, but its execution leaves a lot to be desired. Most of the tracks here don’t even extend past the two-minute mark. And that’s the ultimate problem with Crush Songs - even at its very best, it sounds incomplete and unfinished. But, that doesn’t stop the first two tracks from making a good impression “Ooo” and “Rapt” feel like the outlines of a couple of great songs. In fact, this record has more in common with a Daniel Johnston than with anything put out by the authors of Fever to Tell. If it sounds like Karen O just trapped herself in a room and recorded these songs, well, that’s kind of what happened.įrom the outset, it’s obvious that Crush Songs isn’t going to be a Yeah Yeah Yeahs record. The two reunite after a few collaborations, including their collaboration as Karen O And The Kids on the Where The Wild Things Are soundtrack (2009), I Shall Rise single for Rise of the Tombraider (2014), as well as TRZTN’s remix of Karen O’s Rapt (2015). These feelings are about as personal as you can get, so what better way to tackle this subject than completely stripping back all instrumentation? That’s right - there’s rarely anything more to this album that Karen O and an acoustic guitar. Karen O joins TRZTN (Tristan Bechet) on his single Hieroglyphs from his album Royal Dagger Ballet (Friday, ). Yearning innocence, wrapped in romantic dreams. At 15 tracks, Crush Songs is an album with a simple, straight-forward conceit: these are songs about crushes. Originally recorded after Yeah Yeah Yeah’s album Show Your Bones, this seemed like it could be the music I accidentally wished for.Įven though Karen O has been involved in a lot of recordings outside of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs (film scores, soundtracks, collaborations), she’s yet to release a proper solo album. I remember thinking to myself, “I wish this band would release some material that sounded a bit more like their old stuff.” And somewhere, a withered monkey’s paw stirred as my wish was granted. Chalk it up to the Karen O’s increased involvement with projects outside of the band, or chalk it up to the over-produced, glossy studio sound - it didn’t feel like the old Yeah Yeah Yeah’s. At its core, it felt like a band that wasn’t sure what it should sound like anymore. The Yeah Yeah Yeah’s last album, Mosquito, was pretty divisive 1. Recorded almost seven years ago, Crush Songs is an old love letter to old love letters.