Scott Yoshimura – Queen City Sounds and Art

Holding Hour uses the occasion of a birthday on its new single “Can I Leave Me Too?” to explore some of the deeper nuances of a relationship. The direct and shifting rhythms reminiscent of a beat you might hear in a Yo La Tengo similar anchors the ethereal melodies and the gentle vocals of Marissa Kephart and Scott Yoshimura trading off vocal lines to explicate what is happening that might not be obvious to other people. The avoidant behaviors and painful self-awareness that sensitive people might bring out in each other when they’re involved if they don’t address their anxieties and insecurities and work on the relationship regularly. The background of ambient harmonics floating over the accenting bass lines, slightly overdriven guitar and generally delicate and warm tone of the song suggests that even though the song is almost uncomfortably honest in bringing to the surface personal truths there is a genuine connection in the relationship and it’s the beginning of working through the parts of the relationship that could be shuffled aside in the earlier phases and the thorny bits that many people would really rather never address. The tonal sheen and textures of the song is in the realm of the grittier end of shoegaze akin to earlier My Bloody Valentine or the solo work Kevin Shields did for the Lost In Translation soundtrack and the use of space in the song seems to reflect its spirit of giving space yet seeking reconciliation in spite of hurt feelings and instincts to hide and avoid the possibility of causing further harm. It’s in the end a song encouraging communication over silence with a title that suggests a touch of humor about a tense situation that doesn’t make a joke of anyone’s feelings. Listen to “Can I Leave Me Too?” on Spotify and follow Des Moines, Iowa’s Holding Hour at the links below.

Holding Hour on Instagram

Holding Hour on TikTok

Holding Hour on Facebook

Holding Hour on YouTube

Holding Hour on Bandcamp

It’s not too often a song about being in a relationship with a narcissistic people pleaser who gaslights a romantic partner sounds so driving and upbeat. But elison’s “Covered Me” has some energetic, fuzzy guitar riffs and hazy vocal harmonies in the choruses like a dream pop song with a bit more of an edge. The guitar solo toward the middle of the song sounds like something out of an 80s pop tune the likes of which you might have heard in a Kim Wilde song. But contrast in energy between the progressive pace and Marissa Kephart’s strong yet wistful vocals and lyrics that really capture the portrait of a person who lies all the time in order to maintain a self-image and an illusion for others of a lovable person who is popular with everyone and whose lies are so pervasive that the person with whom they’re involved in an intimate relationship never really knows where they stand and can’t trust their own feelings especially upon witnessing the faux charm exercised with others and the emotional abuse delivered in private. That contrast of moods and sounds is a little reminiscent of the way Rilo Kiley would have some of the most emotionally devastating and sharply observed lyrics paired with beautiful and uplifting songwriting. Which in the end makes the musical complexity implied by that contrast all the more effective. Listen to “Cover Me” on Spotify and follow the duo of Kephart and Scott Yoshimura as elison at the links provided.