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.
SALLY
Homeshake Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Worrying about my baby
Working away so lazy
So we go for a walk and move slowly
Go to the park under low trees
Nothing occurs to show me what
She's dreaming about all day
Tell me you [?]
Sleeping with [?]
Lately I've been at home going crazy
Worrying about my Sally
Working away so lazy
So we go for a walk and move slowly
Nothing occurs to show me what
She's dreaming about all day
Causing me much dismay
Tell me you [?]
The lyrics to Homeshake's song "SALLY" tell a story of a man who is feeling anxious and paranoid about his relationship with his partner, Sally. He has been staying at home and driving himself crazy with worry about his significant other. He is working away lazily, which could suggest a kind of depression or lack of motivation. So, as a way to clear his head, they go for a walk together. They walk to a park under low trees, and while there, the man wonders about what Sally is dreaming about all day, which seems to be causing him much dismay. He asks her to tell him what is going on and if there is something he should know.
This song can be interpreted in a few different ways. It could be read as a commentary on the fear of infidelity or the fear of being left behind that often accompany a relationship. The lyrics could suggest that the man feels like he is not doing enough to keep his partner interested, causing him to worry constantly. Alternatively, the song could be read as an expression of the struggle to balance work and domestic life. The line "working away so lazy" suggests that the man is feeling overwhelmed but also feels guilty for not being more productive.
Line by Line Meaning
Lately I've been at home going crazy
Recently, I've been at home feeling insane and losing my grip on reality.
Worrying about my baby
I'm anxious and concerned about my significant other, whom I deeply care about.
Working away so lazy
I'm spending too much time focused on unproductive tasks, procrastinating essential responsibilities.
So we go for a walk and move slowly
To escape my worrisome thoughts, we take a leisurely stroll.
Go to the park under low trees
We visit a park shaded by trees with short trunks and busied leaves.
Nothing occurs to show me what
I remain perplexed because there is currently nothing to suggest what is on my partner's mind.
She's dreaming about all day
It appears as though my significant other is preoccupied with their dreams throughout the day.
Causing me much dismay
This realization causes me a great deal of worry and distress.
Tell me you [?]
I ask for clarification or insight into what is happening with my partner.
Sleeping with [?]
This line cannot be accurately interpreted due to its ambiguity and incomplete phrasing.
Contributed by Brody R. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
@elijahjohnston5948
lately
ive been at home going crazy
worried about my baby
working away so lazy
so we
go for a walk and move slowly
duck in the park under low trees
nothing of hers to show me
what she's dreaming about all day
causing me much dismay
tell me okay
?????
lately
ive been at home going crazy
worried about my sally
working away so lazy
so we
go for a walk and move slowly
cut in the alley to smoke weed
nothing of hers to show me
what she's dreaming about all day
causing me much dismay
tell me okay
@guatemalantomcat
This is easily his best song
@LimewaterMusic
guatemalantomcat not easily but def agree
@user-ce6cl8wg3r
Their*
@Polo-tq6hd
@달팽이 his*
@stevenbaez8457
@달팽이 his*^ x2
@therealshyguy2621
Moon women > any other homeshake song
@Loveablearsenic
This song is always playing the back of my head.
@Koykah
its like peter takes a peak into my heart and see's what im missing and feels it in with lovely tunes
luv ya man
@zomgseriosuly
I FEEL UUUUUUU
@BlakeGildaphish76
this is something straight outta 1980 and i LOVE it!!!