Stereo Soul Future’s “Chelsea Pier” is an Elegy to 1970s New York and the Pre-Mass Gentrification World

StereoSoulFuture1_Crop — Stereo Soul Future, image courtesy the artists

Stereo Soul Future took some inspiration from photographer Peter Hujar for its new single “Chelsea Pier.” Hujar’s black and white photos captured the vibrancy, the life, the diversity – the essence of New York City and American culture and cityscapes until his untimely death in 1987. The gentle yet effervescent melody parallels Hujar’s sense of curiosity and wonder. The opening line “No one was afraid to die” and the expansive dynamic of the song looks back fondly at a time that seemed to be one enshrined by a sense of possibilities with New York City and its abundant urban decay and neglect as a canvass for culture and art to project and reflect ideas and life and a place where American creative types could go an interact with like-minded folks and be who they are and find some part of the city where a community for who you are existed. While the context is specific the ethereal pop song could be about most cities of size in America and elsewhere before predatory real estate developers and the oligarchy as well as moneyed no culture having heathens decided to come in from their suburban refuges from the unwashed urban masses and live closer to work, buying up cheap, neglected properties and displacing the people and places that had made the city a desirable place to live. This song is a nostalgic view back to a time before that was happening everywhere but without the bitterness expressed above. It gets at the essence of that magic time when it seemed gross income inequality wasn’t pricing everyone out of being able to create culture and co-exist without as much struggle. In linking this nostalgic view to Hujar’s beautiful and representative art the song personalizes the perspective and makes it thus a more original take than some, albeit utterly understandable, screed against gentrification. It’s a poetic reminder of what we lost and can maybe again regain in another form. Listen to “Chelsea Pier” on Spotify and follow Stereo Soul Future at the links below where you can also find information on hearing the rest of the band’s new album Sex Scene.