Homeshake
When you walk alone, you’re never lost. At least, that’s the operating prin… Read Full Bio ↴When you walk alone, you’re never lost. At least, that’s the operating principle behind Homeshake, the recording project of Peter Sagar. Over his first three albums, Sagar followed his own idiosyncratic vision, a journey that’s taken him from sturdy guitar-based indie-pop to, on 2017’s Fresh Air, a bleary-eyed take on lo-fi R&B. Now, with Helium, Sagar is putting down roots in aesthetic territory all his own. Landscape that he once viewed from a distance now forms the bedrock of his sound, and from here, he looks back out at the world as if through a light fog, composing songs that feel grounded and intimate, even as they explore a dispersed feeling of isolation.
It’s a feeling that comes through not only in the gauziness of the production, but also in the vulnerability of the songs themselves. Sagar began writing Helium shortly after completing Fresh Air, and in the middle of what he calls a “binge” reading of Haruki Murakami. It’s not hard to picture the narrator of these songs as a distinctly Murakamian character: He moves through time by himself, bemused by and insulated from a world he doesn’t quite seem to have been made for. Everyone Sagar encounters here — including himself — seems to be a step removed from present reality, whether by technology (“Anything At All”), solitude (“Just Like My”), or sweet fantasy (“Like Mariah”). The record is stitched together by a series of instrumental interludes, synthesizer explorations whose haziness adds to the suspicion that this is all an uncanny dream.
Which isn’t to say that Sagar is unmoored in his own world. In fact, much of Helium is the result of what he calls “a much clearer mental state” than the one he’d experienced shortly following Fresh Air’s completion. “I had a better idea of the sound that was working for this record and what it was turning into as I was writing the songs,” he says. That’s owing in part to the album’s genesis. Where his previous three records were recorded directly to one-inch tape in a local studio, Helium was recorded and mixed by Sagar alone in his apartment in Montreal’s Little Italy neighborhood between April and June of this year. Freed of the rigid editing process he’d endured before, he was able to lose himself in pursuit of tone and texture. “I didn’t have to book time, compete for good hours, wait on availability. I did a lot of it at home in the middle of the night,” he says. “It made me get more obsessive about details.”
A budding interest in ambient and experimental music — particularly Visible Cloaks, DJ Rashad, and Jlin — pushed him to tinker with the micro-sounds that surround the songs here. It’s a process he found creatively invigorating; even the tinkling boom-bap of Young Thug informs “All Night Long.” It’s a far cry from the chorus-laden guitars of his earlier work. “Ever since I started introducing synthesizers into my music, I’ve gotten more interested in texture,” he says. “I’d hit a creative dead end [with guitars], so synths took over.” The warm chords of a Roland Juno 60 form the album’s base, and gave him a clean palette with which to work. “No tape hiss, no humming power outlets and shitty mixing boards,” as he puts it. “Everything just came out nice and pure.”
Still, for all the growth it demonstrates and the ways it luxuriates in its discoveries, Helium is at its core a record that isn’t beholden to any particular set of sounds, textures, or instruments to get its point across. In that sense, it feels closer to the bone, at once assured of its vision and remarkably vulnerable. It’s perhaps our purest view yet of Homeshake’s home country.
It’s a feeling that comes through not only in the gauziness of the production, but also in the vulnerability of the songs themselves. Sagar began writing Helium shortly after completing Fresh Air, and in the middle of what he calls a “binge” reading of Haruki Murakami. It’s not hard to picture the narrator of these songs as a distinctly Murakamian character: He moves through time by himself, bemused by and insulated from a world he doesn’t quite seem to have been made for. Everyone Sagar encounters here — including himself — seems to be a step removed from present reality, whether by technology (“Anything At All”), solitude (“Just Like My”), or sweet fantasy (“Like Mariah”). The record is stitched together by a series of instrumental interludes, synthesizer explorations whose haziness adds to the suspicion that this is all an uncanny dream.
Which isn’t to say that Sagar is unmoored in his own world. In fact, much of Helium is the result of what he calls “a much clearer mental state” than the one he’d experienced shortly following Fresh Air’s completion. “I had a better idea of the sound that was working for this record and what it was turning into as I was writing the songs,” he says. That’s owing in part to the album’s genesis. Where his previous three records were recorded directly to one-inch tape in a local studio, Helium was recorded and mixed by Sagar alone in his apartment in Montreal’s Little Italy neighborhood between April and June of this year. Freed of the rigid editing process he’d endured before, he was able to lose himself in pursuit of tone and texture. “I didn’t have to book time, compete for good hours, wait on availability. I did a lot of it at home in the middle of the night,” he says. “It made me get more obsessive about details.”
A budding interest in ambient and experimental music — particularly Visible Cloaks, DJ Rashad, and Jlin — pushed him to tinker with the micro-sounds that surround the songs here. It’s a process he found creatively invigorating; even the tinkling boom-bap of Young Thug informs “All Night Long.” It’s a far cry from the chorus-laden guitars of his earlier work. “Ever since I started introducing synthesizers into my music, I’ve gotten more interested in texture,” he says. “I’d hit a creative dead end [with guitars], so synths took over.” The warm chords of a Roland Juno 60 form the album’s base, and gave him a clean palette with which to work. “No tape hiss, no humming power outlets and shitty mixing boards,” as he puts it. “Everything just came out nice and pure.”
Still, for all the growth it demonstrates and the ways it luxuriates in its discoveries, Helium is at its core a record that isn’t beholden to any particular set of sounds, textures, or instruments to get its point across. In that sense, it feels closer to the bone, at once assured of its vision and remarkably vulnerable. It’s perhaps our purest view yet of Homeshake’s home country.
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Homeshake Lyrics
(Secret Track) If I gotta be Awake at night Can I skip the heat? A…
All Night Long Dressed up like I'm going out, I feel it and…
Another Thing Spendin' this time up Things are alright Here I am outside S…
Anything at All Everyone I know Lives in my cellphone No matter where I go M…
Basement In the end Things are 'bout what you'd expect Sit on a…
Believe hold on wait a minute hold my chest is my heart…
Blunt Talk counting on my fingers flicking on a blinker turn away hook …
Brothers Brothers Why so still? Feeling empty Feeling ill Roll up One…
But I Know i know i know i know why you've been speaking softly running…
Call Me Up I can see the future, we'll be Living it up inside Making…
Careful what if things move quickly shouldnt they be slow bucket ful…
Cash is Money Oh No, No more, make it stop, one, two ahhh She's…
CD Wallet Sonys holding onto my head Address scribbled in ballpoint pe…
Chowder Hands are hanging lying in a box Breaking after seeing littl…
Dinner Plate dreaming even tho i'm awake pocket let's me know with a…
Don't Try The [?] Tells me whenever you've been crying And [?] better …
Doo Dah Holy moly, get a load of this cat Just woke up…
Easier Now stuck here waiting for something i don't remember what it ju…
Empty Lot waiting in an empty lot for time to stop old yellow lines…
Every Single Thing (Hey, are you even paying attention to me right now?) Every…
Faded Maybe if I sat her Sat her on the side She could…
Feel Better don't know how to say it think about it everyday if nothing…
Gettin' Down Struttin' your stuff Pack [?] rolled up in a [?] But I've…
Give It To Me I wish you could climb inside my head So you could…
Haters I've been dreamin' lots these days. In a lot of crazy…
He's Heating Up! She's asking me over, so I told her I would Last time…
Heat It's so cold in the D tonight Better layer up, it'll…
Hello welcome Hello, welcome Hello, welcome Hello, welcome Hello, welcome…
He’s Heating Up! She's asking me over, so I told her I would Last time…
Home At Last Look at this place It's not how it used to seem They're…
Horsie i can feel it in the air could u roll the…
I Don't Wanna Sticking over (cold weather?) No I can′t stand to be Always …
I Know I Know I Know i know i know i know why you've been speaking softly running…
I'm Too Young I've been up all night long [?] so strong Sick of this…
Ice Tea stirring some feelings up ice tea what's the matter dusting …
Inaminit feels like everybody knows something i don't know drag my fe…
Just Like My Guess it's been a few days now Since I left the…
Khmlwugh Something doesn't feel quite right My lips are dry, my shoes…
Like Mariah Don't mind me, I'm only sitting here Dreaming something up s…
Love Is Only A Feeling She's laying back feeling low I know how I put her…
Making A Fool Of You Girl, it's been a long time since we spoke Couldn't hear…
Midnight Snack Getting near around four or five And the walls′re turnin' ov…
Mindless i'm new at least on the days i'm with you trying to…
Moon Woman Here I am lonely out on the street Know one's around…
Move This Body Standing all alone in the corner It's something that I'm use…
Not U Wait a minute let me try and screw my head…
Nothern Man This is central control This is central control Standby Info…
Nothing 2 See ya i'm soft as a pillow but i'm never down keep…
Nothing Could Be Better I was sitting like I do Doing something slow Mentionin' she'…
Okay Hey what's up, my name is Pete How do you do? Yeah…
On A Roll i'm on a roll again me tomato lettuce was wondering if it…
Other Than Walk a little different these days Seems like things are goi…
Passenger Seat elevator going down stairs going up feeling shy and walking …
Ravioli trying to wake up never easy as in a ad for…
SALLY Lately I've been at home going crazy Worrying about my baby …
Salu Says Hi (Um) (Hello) (Hello) (Hello) (Hey) (Hi) (Hello) (Hello) (Hel…
See Ya Oh, now I can feel it. Man, I can't. Oh yeah, I…
Sesame Sesame Sesame Sesame Sesame Sesame Sesame Sesame So good to…
She Can't Leave Me Here Alone Tonight Just try to relax (Okay) I turn round, something's missing …
She Can’t Leave Me Here Alone Tonight I turn round, something's missing from my bed Hanging frown,…
Simple here it is again where i left it filling up on lead…
Slow Baby, I know that you're lonely, things are moving slowly, o…
Smiling somethings off today sun is shining like u used to say…
Smoke Wait for me The smoke is thick, my eyes are getting…
Spend It wait a sec tryina get it out but it hasn't left tryina…
Tenterhooks hanging on tenterhooks faking some tender looks tryina move …
The Shower Scene Oh, that's better I've been waiting all day for this Why don…
Timing Drag your feet across the floor Feeling so relieved Turning …
Under the Sheets Baby, I can see that look in your eyes And I…
Vacuum In a vacuum like a plane at night Nothing there except…
What Did He Look Like That's right, yep I've just got... Oh, oops! (laughing) (Oka…