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.
Moon Woman
Homeshake Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Know one's around to see
The dust and the salt have covered my feet
And then she came round to me
Her hair is so long and her eyes are so smooth
The words that she speaks are true
I'm feeling this lonely but she's feeling good
She does what she wants to do She's so cool
She's a cruel woman she has her fun
She's a moon woman she's in my heart
She's a cruel woman at least so far (Give me some of that baby, ok ok)
I'm all over that where did she go Her case makes my bones so cold
She knows everything that I'll ever know
Her body is cast in gold
My baby's got other things on her mind
Where no one's allowed inside
It's okay with me I'll take in her view
She's all that I want to do
She's so cool
She's a moon woman she's in my heart
She's a cruel woman she has her fun
She's a moon woman she's in my heart
She's a cruel woman at least so far
Homeshake's "Moon Woman" is a song about meeting someone who captivates you at a moment when you feel empty and lost. The lyrics describe a lonely protagonist wandering the streets, covered in dust and salt, until the Moon Woman enters his life. She is described as having long hair and smooth eyes, and her words are true. Although the singer is feeling lonely, the Moon Woman is feeling good and does what she wants to do. She's cool, she's in the singer's heart, and she's also cruel because she has her own agenda.
The singer seems to be enamored with the Moon Woman. He mentions how her body is cast in gold and how he wants to be close to her. He also acknowledges that she has other things on her mind and that there are places where nobody is allowed inside. However, despite the Moon Woman's elusiveness, the singer is still drawn to her.
Overall, "Moon Woman" is a song about longing, desire, and curiosity. It portrays the complicated nature of human relationships, where we can be attracted to someone even if they are mysterious and possibly emotionally distant.
Line by Line Meaning
Here I am lonely out on the street
I am out wandering the street feeling isolated and alone
Know one's around to see
There is no one around to witness my loneliness
The dust and the salt have covered my feet
My feet are covered in dust and salt after walking outside
And then she came round to me
Suddenly, she approached me
Her hair is so long and her eyes are so smooth
She has beautiful long hair and smooth, captivating eyes
The words that she speaks are true
She speaks honestly and without deception
I'm feeling this lonely but she's feeling good
While I am feeling lonely, she seems content and happy
She does what she wants to do
She lives her life according to her own desires
She's so cool
She is very cool and admirable
She's a moon woman she's in my heart
She is like the moon and occupies a special place in my heart
She's a cruel woman she has her fun
She can be cruel but it doesn't stop her from enjoying herself
She's a moon woman she's in my heart
She remains a cherished figure in my heart
She's a cruel woman at least so far
While she has shown some cruelty, it hasn't affected my affection for her
Give me some of that baby, ok ok
An expression of desire and appreciation for her
I'm all over that where did she go
I'm completely taken with her and wondering where she went
Her case makes my bones so cold
Her demeanor can be off-putting and even chilling
She knows everything that I'll ever know
She possesses knowledge and experience beyond my own
Her body is cast in gold
Her body is perfect and precious like gold
My baby's got other things on her mind
She is preoccupied with other matters
Where no one's allowed inside
She keeps her thoughts and emotions guarded
It's okay with me I'll take in her view
I am content to simply admire her from afar
Contributed by Lila S. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
@olgacee
One time I saw Pete live and screamed “moon woman” and he told me to shut up lmao. Shit still bangs
@MassiveFish-hp4pm
You might like a band called The Doublejumps if you like listening to Homeshake
@vaporware4099
Peak peter
@sarahdelagarza97
If that happened to me I would be so genuinely sad
@daisylefleur
Pete stopped playing at our show at the Empty Bottle here in Chicago bc people wouldn't stfu 😂
@bbati
was this in the echoplex in LA? i remember that happened to someone there too
@tangerinesarebetterthanora7060
The bass is so simple but carries the song along so well
@daisylefleur
Walked down the street like the coolest cat to this song. Ah, to be in my early 20s again.
@meghansullivan6812
Me! I do this and I’m 22 haha!
@zilla7947
I'm 20 nigga sup