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.
Cash is Money
Homeshake Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
She's been looking at me sideways
Even me and all my weekday
It's too bad that you'll never know
Cuz I can't, can't afford to let it show
She can't believe it, but I don't love you anymore
You looks at it's where it's at
Sorry girl I'll be right back
She feels every second that it takes
Not me every dollar I can't make
She can't believe it, but I don't love you anymore
I just don't feel it, even though the cash will keep me warm
She can't believe it, but I don't love you anymore
I just don't feel it, even though the cash will keep me warm
In "Cash is Money," HOMESHAKE sings about a complicated relationship where the singer is torn between their love for money and their love for a person. The song explores the idea that, while money can provide warmth and comfort, it cannot replace true love or make up for a lack of emotional connection. The opening lines of "Oh No, No more, make it stop, one, two ahhh" suggest that the singer is overwhelmed and seeking a way to escape the situation they find themselves in.
The song's chorus revolves around the idea that the singer no longer loves their partner, despite the security and warmth that money provides. They are unable to express their true feelings because they cannot afford to let it show. The idea of love being replaced by money is revisited several times throughout the song, with lines like "even though the cash will keep me warm" highlighting the conflict between love and material comfort.
The second verse is directed towards the singer's partner, who cannot understand their lack of emotional connection. They are waiting for the singer to return, but time is moving slowly for them while the singer is focused on making money. The chorus is repeated twice, emphasizing the theme that money cannot replace love.
Overall, "Cash is Money" is a powerful and thought-provoking song that uses poetic lyrics to explore the complex and sometimes conflicting nature of love and money.
Line by Line Meaning
Oh No, No more, make it stop, one, two ahhh
The singer is overwhelmed and wants something to stop, possibly an internal conflict or external pressure.
She's been looking at me sideways
The woman is suspicious or skeptical of the singer's intentions.
Even me and all my weekday
Even though the singer is not wealthy or successful, the woman still pays attention to him.
It's too bad that you'll never know
The artist regrets not being able to reveal his true feelings to the woman.
Cuz I can't, can't afford to let it show
The artist cannot risk being vulnerable and showing his true emotions because it would impact his financial stability.
She can't believe it, but I don't love you anymore
The singer has fallen out of love with the woman.
I just don't feel it, even though the cash will keep me warm
Despite not feeling love, the singer will continue to pursue the relationship for financial gain.
You looks at it's where it's at
The woman prioritizes money and material wealth.
Sorry girl I'll be right back
The artist needs to leave temporarily, possibly to make money.
She feels every second that it takes
The woman is impatient or anxious about the artist's absence.
Not me every dollar I can't make
The singer is focused on earning money, even at the expense of the relationship.
I just don't feel it, even though the cash will keep me warm
The artist prioritizes financial stability over emotional intimacy.
She can't believe it, but I don't love you anymore
Reiteration of the singer's lack of love for the woman.
I just don't feel it, even though the cash will keep me warm
Reiteration of the singer's prioritization of money over love.
Writer(s): Peter Sagar
Contributed by Joseph D. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
kaitlyn zuniga
+nivk gogo here are some of my favorite indie surfer-ish songs
Hot Flash Heat Wave - Hesitation
Miles Bandit - She's So Smooth
Coastal - Heart of Tin
Surf Curse - I'm Not Making out with You
Beachtape- Again
Sweat - Workin' Late
Dead Mellotron - Birthday
Noah Kittinger - All I Know
My Friend Peter - Groovy Kind of Love
Flower Festival - What a Sob Story/I'm a Waste of Time
Harriman Exit - Beautiful Way
Mac Demarco - It's Gonna Be Lonely
00G
She’s laughing at me sideways
Leaves me on my weak days
Too bad
Can’t afford to let it go
She can’t believe it
I’m just a feeling
With cash to keep me warm
She wants to know why
Why I can’t feel no more
Broken, departed
And I’m not completely sure
She can’t believe it
I’m just a feeling
With this cash to keep me warm
Now I can’t believe it
I’m just this filthy whore
Looking for something
Something to give me more
ALEX SIL
I love this being chilled out and simple, makes it interesting and easy to listen to
Rob C
Super under rated song
dshimizu m
peter sagar's sound is so sweet he calls himself peter sugar, he is the shit!! #bigfan
YodaGaming
piter sugar*
Evelin Alvarado
I love this song so much. wow
Gemini Cove
Love Homeshake
Hugo Adore
i dig this so much
Emily McQuarrie
what great artwork
mm mm
Best discovery long-since !!!
s handles
i feel like louis and clark finding super dank things.