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.

I'm Too Young
Homeshake Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

I've been up all night long
[?] so strong
Sick of this cardboard box
Or of all of [?]
Somebody else take my place
Gone for a couple days
Gotta [?] all my chores
I don't know anymore

Need something for my brain
Let's go and [?]
Forget about ironing
[?] Tv set

I'm too young to [?]
Let's meet [?]

Overall Meaning

The lyrics to Homeshake's song "I'm Too Young" portray a sense of dissatisfaction and confusion within the singer's life. The first lines indicate exhaustion and possibly drug use, creating a feeling of restlessness within the singer. They also express their dissatisfaction with their current living situation by saying they're sick of their "cardboard box." It's possible that the singer is struggling financially and living in a less-than-ideal apartment or housing situation.

The singer then goes on to suggest they need a break from their responsibilities and would like someone else to take their place for a while. This could indicate that they're feeling overwhelmed and need a mental break. They then mention "something for my brain," which could suggest that they may be feeling bored, unstimulated or even depressed.

The following lines suggest that the singer wants to escape their current reality by going out, having fun, and forgetting about their mundane daily chores like ironing. They may be looking for an escape in partying and watching TV instead of facing their problems directly. The final line "I'm too young to" leaves room for interpretation; it could be that the singer feels too young to have these adult responsibilities, or that they feel too young to be stuck in such a boring routine.

Overall, the lyrics of "I'm Too Young" convey a feeling of restlessness, escapism, and dissatisfaction with the singer's current situation.

Line by Line Meaning

I've been up all night long
I haven't slept all night

[?] so strong
Feeling restless with no apparent reason

Sick of this cardboard box
I'm bored of my current living environment

Or of all of [?]
Maybe I'm just tired of everything

Somebody else take my place
I need a break from my responsibilities

Gone for a couple days
I need some time away from everything

Gotta [?] all my chores
I have to finish all my duties

I don't know anymore
I'm feeling lost and confused

Need something for my brain
I need some mental stimulation

Let's go and [?]
Maybe we could smoke something

Forget about ironing
I don't want to worry about mundane tasks

[?] Tv set
I'm mindlessly watching TV to pass the time

I'm too young to [?]
This adulting thing is overwhelming for me at times

Let's meet [?]
Let's get together and do something exciting

Contributed by Colin D. Suggest a correction in the comments below.

To comment on or correct specific content, highlight it

TRACKS

No Related Genres

More Genres

No Artists Found

More Artists Load All

No Albums Found

No Tracks Found

PT1M45S

Genre not found

Artist not found

Album not found

Search results not found

Song not found

Most interesting comment from YouTube:

Araceli Flores

6y↑4

Lyrics

I've been up all night long
[?] so strong
Sick of this cardboard box
Or of all of the walks
[?]

Somebody else take my place
Gone for a couple days
Gonna quit all my chores
I don't know anymore
Need something for my brain

Let's go and [?]
Forget about ironing
[?] Tv set
I'm too young to regret
Let's meet [?]