Circlesquare is Vancouver, British Columbia's Jeremy Shaw, now living in Berlin. Don't be surprised, though, if he doesn't sound like any of his citymates: for the length of his career, Circlesquare has never sounded quite like anyone but Circlesquare.
Last heard from over two years ago, Circlesquare set hearts racing with a set of records released between 1999 and 2006 on Trevor Jackson's Output label, home to a diverse roster of electronic outsiders like Black Strobe, DK7, and Colder. His 2003 album Pre-Earthquake Anthem came as a revelation: rather than the fluo-funk of his better known labelmates, or the digitized minimalism of the day, Circlesquare came on like a molasses drip laced with Codeine, roping in such unlikely references as Tones on Tail, Leonard Cohen, Pole, Angelo Badalamenti, and even Cat Stevens. Boomkat called it "dense, considered stuff… mixing up a brooding and pounding melancholy, bass-fuelled sensory exploration, and purest minimal electronic meltdown." 2006's Fight Sounds EP was even stranger. It moved like snails set on fire, dousing steel guitar in acid sequences and warped keyboard riffing, all overlaid with Jeremy's intimate, ominous voice.
The records—and just as importantly, an impressive live show—helped Circlesquare establish a rabid following. And then Output went under, and Jeremy went all but AWOL. In 2007, rumors began floating around about demos for a new Circlesquare album, one even fuller and more fully realized than his previous material. The rumors were true: that material would go on to become Songs About Dancing and Drugs, an album that finds Shaw sounding more complex, melancholy, profound, and invigorating than ever before. This is the real deal, the kind of album that comes around once in forever, an album for late nights and long drives and breakups and lovemaking, for cold mornings and matted-velvet comedowns. Oh yes, for comedowns.
The title is self-sufficient. "I named the album in the tradition of Leonard Cohen, Talking Heads, Big Black, etc.," says Jeremy. "I always loved the directness of Songs from a Room, Songs of Love and Hate, More Songs About Buildings and Food, Songs About Fucking... Dancing, drugs and science seemed to be the most prevalent themes of the album, as usual, so I went with the first two."
But this isn't your usual "dance" music. These are opiated rave-ups, like early bleep techno chopped and screwed, or shoegaze in an electric exoskeleton. Beaten down, scuffed-toe bass meditations wrapped in desert blues and dub delay—ambient music with an anti-pop brain and a rock'n'roll heart.
"It's the first time since forever ago that a lot of the recorded versions got played live before the album was completed," says Jeremy, "so they definitely changed with the live show, and what was working out there." Two members of Circlesquare's live band, drummer Dave Butterfield and guitarist Trevor Larson, also pitched into the studio sessions, with their work cut up and recomposed by Jeremy. (Nathan Whitford, the group's fourth member, runs visuals for the live show.) As a result the music feels unusually alive—looser and more dynamic than ever before, with no visible seam where circuitry enters the bloodstream (or vice-versa). For all its tensions and negations, the music is all about balance, with liquid guitars, corroded drums, and Jeremy's inimitable voice circling each other like wary atoms.
Unlike bands that wear their singers like decorations, Jeremy's voice, deep and rich, provides the music's center. It never dominates; instead, his whisper-growl, teetering between speech and song, nestles deep inside like a voice inside your head. And unlike singers that toss out words like afterthoughts, Jeremy's lyrics create their own kind of gravity. What sound at first like stray images and passing paranoia come together to create the picture of an unstable world torn by a time-space faultline. "Today could be then or last week," "Everything's moving so fast," "Answers go sideways," "Everything looks like light-speed"… Lasers and satellites pepper a world that feels as frozen as a snow globe, with its dazed subjects dancing and drifting aimlessly in search of something like redemption.
These are songs about promises broken and potential squandered, of desperate boredom and revelations of the mundane. It's an album about coming down and staying down, about the age of "bathtub chemistry" where they took "all the love out of the ecstasy/ Where now nothing is strong enough/ But lasers mainlined straight into brain receptors." Yeah, it's dark. But you can sense Jeremy's finger on the laser's switch. You can smell the ozone off the spark. It's right there in the opening song, where hitting bottom cracks open a world of light:
This is it, this is ours, here we go
Here we go.
Text by Philip Sherburne
All Live But The Ending
Circlesquare Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
On the ceiling
Block the wormhole
That you’re needing
And your M.R.I.
Showing brain waves
You’re blowing brain scans
Oh, you’re glowing these days
More lasers
Baby
For light shows
And surgery
Why don’t you call me?
I’m lonely
Those shakes’ll go away
Won’t they?
Let’s all go dancing tonight
Let’s all go out dancing tonight
Because this is gonna take some getting used to
So let’s all go out dancing tonight
When the drums come
Ah ah ah ah
Ah ah ah ah
Ah ah ah ah
Ah ah ah ah ah ah
x 4
Did you feel it end yet?
Are the drugs all gone?
Are you feeling half as bad? Were your high beams on?
x 8
In the end, after all
All that anybody really needs
Is art and music
In the end, after all
All that anybody really needs
Are paintings and songs
In the end, after all
All that anybody really needs
Is art and music
So won’t you come along
Won’t you come along
Cause if you came along
You’d help the world hang on
You’d help the world hang on
Four, three, two, one
The song "All Live But The Ending" by Circlesquare appears to be about a person going through brain scans and other medical procedures while feeling lonely and disconnected from the world. The opening lines suggest a person experiencing a visual hallucination or distortion, caused by blocking of a "wormhole" by satellites on the ceiling, which is not helping their condition. The person is shown the results of their brain scans and told they are glowing. The song suggests this could either be good or bad news, depending on the person's state of mind.
The chorus of the song shifts to a more positive note, suggesting the need to go out and dance, to escape the confusion and chaos of life. The repetitive nature of the chorus emphasizes this idea of finding joy and release through dancing. However, the final lines of the song rhyme the lyrics with the very first line, suggesting the endless cycle of confusion and chaos might not have a resolution, just as the lyrics suggest the cycle of art and music is all anyone will ever need.
Line by Line Meaning
Satellites
Technology is present everywhere, even on the ceiling above us, in the form of satellites.
On the ceiling
The presence of technology is not restricted to the ground level; it extends to the ceiling too.
Block the wormhole
Satellites can interfere with even the most fundamental of physical phenomena, like wormholes.
That you're needing
In some cases, we might depend on the existence of certain physical phenomena that technology can interfere with, creating hurdles for us.
And your M.R.I.
Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is a medical procedure that uses technology to scan the brain and detect abnormalities.
Showing brain waves
The MRI can reveal the functioning of the brain through the detection of brain waves.
You're blowing brain scans
The MRI scan indicates that the person's brain is highly active, possibly due to intense thinking, processing, or emotions.
Oh, you're glowing these days
The person is radiating energy and positivity, as their brain activity seems to be on the rise.
More lasers
Lasers are tools used not just for obvious purposes, like surgeries, but also for non-essential purposes, like lighting and visual effects in shows.
Baby
This is an address to someone the artist is fond of and urging them to take a step toward something new together.
For light shows
Lasers are a great addition to light shows as they can create stunning visual effects that are impossible to achieve otherwise.
And surgery
Lasers are also used in surgeries, often as precision tools, that help doctors cut accurately without damaging healthy tissue.
Why don’t you call me?
This is the singer's way of saying they want to talk to someone, but the other person hasn't been in touch in some time.
I’m lonely
The singer is expressing their feeling of being lonely in the absence of the person they are addressing.
Those shakes'll go away
The singer is expressing their belief that whatever the other person is going through will eventually pass, implying that there's no need to worry or stress.
Won't they?
This is a rhetorical question, asked to emphasize that whatever the other person is experiencing, it will pass.
Let's all go dancing tonight
This is an invitation to dance freely and enjoy the music and rhythm without worrying about anything else for a while.
Because this is gonna take some getting used to
The singer is acknowledging that something will be hard to deal with, and as a result, it will take time to adjust.
When the drums come
The music speaks to the singer; they feel this rush of energy from the rhythm and want to get up and dance to it.
Did you feel it end yet?
The end of a relationship or phase is already on the person's mind, and they are constantly wondering if it has already ended.
Are the drugs all gone?
This could mean that the person is dependent on drugs and is tired of the cycle of addiction, or it could be a reference to a more general feeling of emptiness or lack of stimulation.
Are you feeling half as bad?
The artist is trying to gauge the emotional state of the person they are addressing, and hoping they are now feeling at least a little bit better about things.
Were your high beams on?
This is a metaphor to describe a person who was too intense, too focused on one thing, or too inconsiderate.
In the end, after all
All that anybody really needs
Is art and music
At the end of the day, humans don't need much to survive; they can find solace and fulfillment through simple pleasures like art and music.
So won't you come along
Won't you come along
Cause if you came along
You'd help the world hang on
You'd help the world hang on
The singer is urging someone to come along with them and be a part of something bigger than themselves, something that has the power to sustain the world.
Four, three, two, one
This might imply preparation for action or give urgency to the preceding or subsequent statements.
Contributed by Reagan O. Suggest a correction in the comments below.