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.
Nothern Man
Homeshake Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
This is central control
Standby
Information to follow
We are ready to transmit
We are ready to transmit
Snow doesn't care, if there's snow in his hair
He's just as old, as any I'd know
Just sounds so unclear
He's my northern, man
With his northern, hands
He's my northern, man
With his northern, hands
Meat on his plate, held together in tape
He's dreaming all night
Killed in his cell, [?]
He came from a fight
He's my northern, man
With his northern, hands
He's my northern, man
With his northern, hands
He's my guy
He's my guy
The beginning of the song sets the scene for the listener allowing them to imagine a control room with a voice announcing "This is central control, Standby, Information to follow, We are ready to transmit." This voice sets up the tone for the song and makes it clear that something important is about to be communicated. Immediately after the announcement, the song transitions into a more relaxed rhythm with soft guitar strings and Homeshake's soothing, mellow voice which creates a total dichotomy to the sterile atmosphere established in the beginning.
The lyrics focus on a man from the north, with an ice beard, snowy hair and hands. The singer describes the person as someone who owns a strength that is barely audible but nonetheless existent. Homeshake compares the northern man's strength to that of his hands, which suggests that it's not something one can necessarily hear but something that's tangible and present. The singer also describes the northern man's ability to survive with limited resources, for example as demonstrated by the tape on his meat. Furthermore, the singer narrates of a past altercation; the northern man was imprisoned and though he may have lost the controversial fight, he still possesses the strength necessary to survive. The singer's repetition of his declaration of "He's my guy," further emphasizes the sentimental value the northern man possesses.I
Line by Line Meaning
This is central control
Important message being transmitted
Standby
Awaiting further instructions
Information to follow
More details to be shared shortly
We are ready to transmit
We are prepared to send out the message
Snow doesn't care, if there's snow in his hair
Snow is indifferent to the surrounding snow on his hair
There's ice in his beard
Ice particles present in facial hair
He's just as old, as any I'd know
He is as aged as individuals I have seen
Just sounds so unclear
Something is not audibly understandable
He's my northern, man
The man in discussion is from the North and significant to me
With his northern, hands
His hands belong to the North and are significant to me
Meat on his plate, held together in tape
His food is kept together with tape
He's dreaming all night
He frequently experiences dreams throughout the night
Killed in his cell, [?]
Unclear happenings that seem to involve him passing away in confinement
He came from a fight
He emerged from a physical altercation
He's my guy
He is someone who is closely related to me
Contributed by Logan H. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Luis Quispe Delgado
Intro]
This is central control
This is central control
Standby
In formation to follow
We are ready to transmit-
We are ready to transmit
[Verse 1]
Snow doesn't care, if there's snow in his hair
There's ice in his beard
He's just as old, as any I'd know
Just sounds so unclear
[Chrous]
He's my northern, man
With his northern, hands
He's my northern, man
With his northern, hands
[Verse 2]
Meat on his plate, held together in tape
He's dreaming all night
Killed it himself, a bear out of hell
It gave him a fight
[Chorus]
He's my northern, man
With his northern, hands
He's my northern, man
With his northern, hands
He's my guy
He's my guy
Melo Kebeni
One of those songs you wish was longer because you can't get enough of it.
Luis Quispe Delgado
Intro]
This is central control
This is central control
Standby
In formation to follow
We are ready to transmit-
We are ready to transmit
[Verse 1]
Snow doesn't care, if there's snow in his hair
There's ice in his beard
He's just as old, as any I'd know
Just sounds so unclear
[Chrous]
He's my northern, man
With his northern, hands
He's my northern, man
With his northern, hands
[Verse 2]
Meat on his plate, held together in tape
He's dreaming all night
Killed it himself, a bear out of hell
It gave him a fight
[Chorus]
He's my northern, man
With his northern, hands
He's my northern, man
With his northern, hands
He's my guy
He's my guy
Jorge Rojas
Love it
NADIA
He's my northern man, with his northern hands 🎶 🎶
Sonni Green
sampling louie theroux thats amazing
Josh Farrow
Anyone have tabs? This song is stuck in my head and I need to play it out.
Marcelo Henkin
+James Peterson yeah, i figured out how to play this song a couple of weeks ago. soon i'll make a video and upload it. maybe tomorrow
Marcelo Henkin
+James Peterson i uploaded the video, check it out
HAMMERHEAD
sick song
Xcooldude1
buen trabajo