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.
The Shower Scene
HOMESHAKE Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I've been waiting all day for this
Why don't you join me?
It's so good
So
Oh
The mentioned lyrics come from the song ‘The Shower Scene’ by Homeshake. The song begins with a syncopated guitar riff played over a drum machine beat. The vocalist then proceeds to sing about how he has been anticipating taking a much-needed shower all day long. The pleasure and relief he feels during his alone time in the shower are highlighted through the repeated line ‘Oh, that's better’.
His invitation to someone else to join him in the shower seems to be more about sharing the gratifying experience rather than being romantic or sexual. The brief, simple lyrics give a sense of a private, intimate moment that anyone who has had a satisfying shower can relate to. The song showcases Homeshake’s trademark lo-fi sound and hushed, whispered vocals. The dream-like music and the tender lyrics combine to create a soothing and introspective atmosphere to the listener.
Line by Line Meaning
Oh, that's better
Expressing relief and satisfaction that a certain situation or action has led to an improvement in one's physical or emotional state.
I've been waiting all day for this
Implying excitement and anticipation about an event or activity that has been eagerly awaited since the beginning of the day.
Why don't you join me?
Extending an invitation to another person to take part in the activity that is being pursued for personal pleasure or relaxation.
It's so good
Conveying a feeling of intense pleasure or satisfaction for the activity currently being pursued, often expressing the subjectivity of the experience according to individual preference or opinion.
So
Used as an interjection or transitional phrase to denote a continuation of the preceding thought, or as a way of trailing off unfinished instincts or desires.
Contributed by Anthony Y. Suggest a correction in the comments below.