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.
Just Like My
Homeshake Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Since I left the house
Should be out about
Quiet as a mouse is
I need something medium
Voice goes high like helium does (helium)
Don't know what you see in them
Anyway I'll be around here pretty much the whole day or so
I could have sworn it was a Sunday, but I still don't wanna
I can't remember any damn things, I'm just like my oma
I just got a brand new pair
From I don't know where
Got me outta there
Stitch already tearing
I should switch up everything
I don't feel like anything else (anything)
Not sure how to deal with it (deal with it)
Maybe I can figure it out, give me just a quick second or two
I could have sworn it was a Sunday, but I still don't wanna
I can't remember any damn things, I'm just like my oma
I could have sworn it was a Sunday, but I still don't wanna
I can't remember any damn things
I'm just like my- ah ah
I'm just like my-
I'm just like my- ah ah
I'm just like my-
I'm just like my- ah ah
I'm just like my-
I'm just like my- ah ah
I'm just like my oma
Uh, hi
The song "Just Like My" by Homeshake is a mellow and dreamy indie pop track that explores themes of dissociation, forgetfulness, and a general feeling of detachment from the world. The song opens with the singer admitting that it has been a few days since he left the house and that he is moving around like a mouse, trying to stay out of sight. He feels like he needs something to help him stay medium, or balanced, but his voice goes high like helium (which could be a reference to feeling light-headed or disconnected from reality). He wonders what someone else might see in the things that he can't connect to.
The singer then mentions that he got a new pair of something, but he doesn't remember what they are or where he got them from. He's already having issues with the item, as the stitch is tearing, but he doesn't feel like changing anything else about himself. He's not sure how to deal with this cognitive dissonance, but he thinks he can figure it out if he has a second or two to think about it. Throughout the song, the singer repeats the phrase "I could have sworn it was a Sunday, but I still don't wanna," indicating a sense of disorientation and confusion.
Overall, "Just Like My" paints a picture of someone who is struggling to connect with the world around them and feeling like they are floating through life without any real anchors. Whether intentional or not, the lyrics create a certain sense of longing and melancholy that is mirrored by the laid-back, hypnotic melody.
Line by Line Meaning
Guess it's been a few days now
It's been a few days since I left home
Since I left the house
Since I left my home
Should be out about
I should be out and about
Quiet as a mouse is
I'm being quiet as a mouse
I need something medium
I need something in between
Voice goes high like helium does (helium)
My voice goes high like the gas helium
Don't know what you see in them
I don't understand what you see in them
Anyway I'll be around here pretty much the whole day or so
Regardless, I'll be around here for most of the day
I could have sworn it was a Sunday, but I still don't wanna
I thought it was Sunday, but I still don't want to do anything
I can't remember any damn things, I'm just like my oma
I have trouble remembering things, just like my grandma
I just got a brand new pair
I just got a new pair of something
From I don't know where
I don't know where I got them from
Got me outta there
They were helpful in getting me out of somewhere
Stitch already tearing
The stitching is already coming apart
I should switch up everything
I should change everything up
I don't feel like anything else (anything)
I don't feel like any other options
Not sure how to deal with it (deal with it)
I'm not sure how to handle the situation
Maybe I can figure it out, give me just a quick second or two
Maybe I can figure it out if you give me a moment
I'm just like my- ah ah
I'm just like my- (vocalization)
I'm just like my-
I'm just like my
I'm just like my- ah ah
I'm just like my- (vocalization)
I'm just like my-
I'm just like my
I'm just like my- ah ah
I'm just like my- (vocalization)
I'm just like my-
I'm just like my
I'm just like my- ah ah
I'm just like my- (vocalization)
I'm just like my oma
I'm just like my grandma
Uh, hi
A casual greeting
Lyrics © SC PUBLISHING DBA SECRETLY CANADIAN PUB., Songtrust Ave
Written by: Peter J Sagar
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Brandon Jimenez
Lyrics
(verse 1)
Guess it's been a few days now
Since i left the house
Should be out about
Quiet as a mouse is
I need something medium
Voice goes high like helium does
Dont know what you see in them
Anyway i’ll be around here pretty much the whole day or so
(hook)
I could have sworn it was a sunday, but i still don't wanna
I can't remember any damn things, i’m just like my oma
(verse 2)
I just got a brand new pair
From i don't know where
Got me outta there
Stitch already tearing
I sshould switch up everything
I don't feel like anything else
Not sure how to deal with it
Maybe i can figure it out, give me just a quick second or two
(hook 2x)
vivi
Guess it's been a few days now
Since I left the house
Should be out about
Quiet as a mouse is
I need something medium
Voice goes high like helium does (helium)
Don't know what you see in them
Anyway I'll be around here pretty much the whole day or so
I could have sworn it was a Sunday, but I still don't wanna
I can't remember any damn things, I'm just like my oma
I just got a brand new pair
From I don't know where
Got me outta there
Stitch already tearing
I should switch up everything
I don't feel like anything else (anything)
Not sure how to deal with it (deal with it)
Maybe I can figure it out, give me just a quick second or two
I could have sworn it was a Sunday, but I still don't wanna
I can't remember any damn things, I'm just like my oma
I could have sworn it was a Sunday, but I still don't wanna
I can't remember any damn things
I'm just like my- ah ah
I'm just like my-
I'm just like my- ah ah
I'm just like my-
I'm just like my- ah ah
I'm just like my-
I'm just like my- ah ah
I'm just like my oma
Uh, hi
StankB0mb
I love all of homeshake's music, but this one just hits different
Noirnaledi
I play his music so loud, it's always shaking my home
Noirnaledi
Ha ha, get it?
Mario Beltran
+NalediBee3 I do 😄
Budd J Dweyer
Guess you can call it homeshake
Devil man
:p
PlatinumAssMAFIA
His music is best played really loud tho tbh
Jasmine West
Her face and her movements are oddly comforting. The song is as well. I love it
Jack Kelly
Nicest beat I've ever heard especially when it drops into the chorus really really unreal
Anxo Bugarín Vázquez
Loving the beat, the synth... Feels like love at first sight.