“Anthems For For A Seventeen Year Old Girl” (Broken Social Scene song)

For the recording and music video for “sweet tooth,” Virginia Beach’s art pop band loverghost undertook meticulous, even granular, execution of production to maximize the analog feel of all elements. Recording partly to a Tascam Portastudio 424 (who that recorded up through the mid-2000s didn’t have one of those and how many wish they had one now?) and a video that includes VHS live footage, hand drawn animation, processing through analog video synthesis (something one most often sees done at a live show) and printing out hundreds of frames through a thermal printer to lend yet another layer of something that seems like it’s coming from another time the whole presentation of the song is incredibly intimate. Which suits its tender sentiments expressing love for someone that doesn’t really get and thus appreciate music which is a bit of a quandary if you’re a musician who these days have to orient part of their navigation of getting the music out toward the attention economy that is partly ruining the purity of creating and experiencing music directly. Musically it resonates with Broken Social Scene’s “Anthems For A Seventeen Year Old Girl” and its own deeply vulnerable energy. The song balances openly confessional affection and acceptance of potential rejection and being willing to risk that heartache if the feelings aren’t mutual. Knowing how much effort went into the final presentation of the song isn’t essential but one can feel the love and care that went into the whole thing listening the song and taking in its fascinating visuals and that makes a major difference in a world where so much music is treated as disposable by culture and for sure by the industry. Watch the video for “sweet tooth” on YouTube and follow loverghost at the links below.