Hallmarked by Hollie’s seductive, dreamy vocals and a succession of memorably soaring choruses, all of it etched with Keith’s vivid, glinting keyboards, towering guitars and miscellaneous instrumental hooks, Mint Julep make lustrous modern pop music that is wistful and mellifluous yet simultaneously powerful, even epic – equal parts shoegazing romanticism and cool, Kraftwerkian polish. Their songs seem instantly familiar, like old musical friends, a ’classicism’ offset by the freshness and luminosity they exude as they usher you on a breathless ride through the sunlit uplands of electronic indie-rock.
Mint Julep was designed as a conscious departure from Keith’s previous, ambient- orientated projects. “When Hollie and I set out to do something, I wanted to find some way to incorporate her vocals into a slightly different style, rather than just write similar material to my solo work and lay her vocals over top”, he says. “I had the need to write something that had some distorted guitars, loud drums and was a little bolder than what I had previously done. We messed around with a track one night (which became ‘Stay’) and it was a fun process, so we just kept writing more songs so we could do a project together.”
Soon a working pattern emerged, with Keith composing music around Hollie’s lyrics or making tracks which Hollie would then add to. “It just developed after a lot of trial and error, and after a while the material started to plateau and began to sound like an album…”
A Pennsylvannian by birth, Keith Kenniff is an honours graduate of Boston’s esteemed Berklee College of Music, best known as the brains behind dulcet ambient/electronic practitioners Helios and the fingers on the ivories of post-classical piano minimalists Goldmund (the latter’s music once described by no less an authority than Ryuichi Sakamoto as “…so, so, so beautiful…”). A succession of albums under those aliases has made Kenniff the darling of discerning critics and his music has also been widely used in film, television and advertising, not least on the soundtrack to Harmony Korine’s 2007 comedy-drama Mister Lonely and the trailer for the 2009 Academy Award-nominated Revolutionary Road, directed by Sam Mendes.
Originally from Ohio, singer Hollie Kenniff maintains dual US/Canadian citizenship, having spent part of her life in Ontario. Aside from Mint Julep, she has collaborated on several additional musical endeavors in tandem with husband Keith, including a children’s music project, Meadows, (inspired by the couple’s young son), whose debut longplayer was recently released, and an ambient diversion under their own names.
www.mintjulepmusic.com
Mint Julep on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mintjulepmusic
Twitter: http://twitter.com/_MintJulep
Other projects by Keith Kenniff: Helios and Goldmund.
Aviary
Mint Julep Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Dreaming of landscapes in the rain
We love and lie
The way the shadows hide from the light
Listen to you speak, listen to you say to me
That we’ll never leave, that we’ll never leave
That we’ll never leave here again, again
Breaking the silence
I can barely catch my breath (can’t catch my breath)
I wander out of sight
To the farthest fields
Where I know that we’ll be safe tonight
Listen to you speak, listen to you say to me
That we’ll never leave, that we’ll never leave
That we’ll never leave here again, again
Mint Julep's Aviary explores the theme of love as a sanctuary from the chaos of life. The lyrics describe the singer's dream of finding refuge with their lover in a safe place where they can love and be loved without fear or judgement. The opening line, "I lay awake, dreaming of landscapes in the rain," sets the tone for the ethereal and dreamlike quality of the song. The imagery of rain conjures a sense of cleansing and renewal, suggesting that the singer is seeking a fresh start with their lover.
As the song progresses, the singer describes the way they and their lover hide from the light, implying a sense of secrecy and intimacy. The chorus repeats the phrase "that we'll never leave here again," emphasizing the importance of this sanctuary and the desire to remain there forever. The bridge, with its sudden shift to a more urgent and breathless tone, suggests that the outside world is encroaching on their sanctuary and threatening to tear them apart. However, the final lines reassure the listener that there is still a safe place where they can go and be together.
Line by Line Meaning
I lay awake
I am unable to sleep
Dreaming of landscapes in the rain
I am imagining scenes with rain-filled backdrops
We love and lie
We have complex romantic relationships which involve deceit
The way the shadows hide from the light
The dark parts of our lives cannot stand to be exposed to truth
Listen to you speak, listen to you say to me
I am intent on hearing what you are telling me
That we’ll never leave, that we’ll never leave
We will always stay in this place
That we’ll never leave here again, again
We will never leave this place a second time
Breaking the silence
The quietness around me is interrupted
I can barely catch my breath (can’t catch my breath)
I am unable to catch my breath and feel suffocated
I wander out of sight
I am disappearing from view
To the farthest fields
I move towards the most distant parts
Where I know that we’ll be safe tonight
I am sure we can find safety in this place
Contributed by Peyton W. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
@ApotheosiZ
Damn, I can't believe this has been out for like a decade, feels like yesterday when I used to zone out to this track
@regiluthfi
It's sad time flies, i used to listen to this track in a loop and thought this band was gonna be big. So much memories.
@ApotheosiZ
@@regiluthfi I remember listening to this when I was 22 & 23 hanging out with some friends trying to create music and deal with personal issues (we all had a mix bag of problems) I even wrote a poem to this song because I felt inspired... DAMN I was so hopeful that the future would be different and now I'm 32 & annoyed I still have some of the same struggles.
@regiluthfi
@@ApotheosiZ i miss being in my 20s too, cruising through the night, getting drunk and chilling with friends at the rooftop while listen to some indie music like the bird and the bee, yeah yeah yeahs. Then until i had lost my friends gradually ( some of them were married or moved to other cities ) it's rather bland to meet them again, everything has changed. im 31 now and im still stuck at something that was consumed by time and i cant take it back, there's so many things i had to do but time is up, it's depressing. Sorrry for rambling
@ApotheosiZ
@@regiluthfi I have sort of a similar story, my 20s had me coming out of my shell and doing all the things I should have done in my teens (making up for lost time I suppose). I hate to say it but as it stands right now, my late 20s (25ish to 29) were the highlights of my life, which isn't saying much. I felt like I was moving towards something, like each year I was getting closer to getting out of the hole I feel into during my teens. It feels like all that evaporated when I got into my 30s, all I could do is watch as things fell apart (band broke up, cut ties with friends who were alcoholics, love interests disappeared and so on). I try to stay optimistic that there is still time but I'd be lying if I said it didn't feel like some doors of opportunity have closed shut.
@regiluthfi
@@ApotheosiZ that's exactly sound like me. It's such a relief that im not the one who felt that. I thought i was in my prime when i was in my early 20s ( i was an introvert before ) and sadly those years are over. probably it's just a small strangers conversation but thank you for sharing your story. I hope you have a great life.
@GuppyPal
I love this and cannot understand how it doesn't have more views. Even for alternative, this deserves 1 million or more.
@0430sharon
every a year, I miss this song too much. fall is coming
@Alienxdd
I'll never forget Remember me forever ♥
@thereisenproject6280
This video makes the song even better.