Ranging from chillwave to sophisticated electro-pop, Small Black fuses long… Read Full Bio ↴Ranging from chillwave to sophisticated electro-pop, Small Black fuses longing, noise, and melody into lushly wistful songs. On their 2009 self-titled EP and 2010 debut album, New Chain, their lo-fi hybrid of shoegaze and synth pop helped put chillwave on the map and fit into the larger indie tradition of artists couching their heartbreak in homespun sounds. In the 2010s and beyond, they polished their style, and emphasized their '80s sophisti-pop influences on 2013's Limits of Desire, but as poised as their music grew, albums such as 2021's Cheap Dreams kept the emotional pull of their songwriting at the forefront.

Small Black started with a name and worked backwards: a housemate of singer/multi-instrumentalist Josh Kolenik came up with the moniker on a cold Portland, Oregon night. The name stuck when he returned to Long Island, New York and began collaborating with Ryan Heyner, an area musician and former member of the hardcore band Silent Majority who shared friends with Kolenik. The pair holed up in the attic of the beach house and surfboard shop Kolenik's uncle owned to record songs with vintage keyboards and samplers, spending late 2008 and early 2009 recording as Uncle Matt made surfboards underneath them.

Though Kolenik had played in several bands before Small Black, the mix of shoegaze and synth pop he and Heyner hit upon felt special, and the group's lineup was complete once bassist/guitarist Juan Pieczanski and Jeff Curtin from Kolenik's previous band, Slowlands, joined to bolster production and fill out their live act. Small Black released their self-titled five-song EP on their own CassClub label in October 2009, and released the U.K. single "Despicable Dogs" as well as a video for that song featuring Uncle Matt soon after. Following their performances at that year’s CMJ Music Marathon, Small Black signed to Jagjaguwar Records, which reissued the band’s debut EP with two bonus tracks in 2010. That year, they also released a split single with the like-minded Washed Out, with whom they also toured. New Chain, the band's first full-length, boasted a slightly more polished sound that reflected their consistent touring as well as their interest in hip-hop and arrived in October 2010. In late 2011, the band offered the Moon Killer mixtape as a free download from their website. The collection of new material was built on samples ranging from Pere Ubu to Nicki Minaj and featured multiple drop-ins from Das Racist MC Heems as well as remixes from Star Slinger and Phonetag.

After spending much of 2012 on the road, Small Black returned with May 2013's Limits of Desire, a more sophisticated-sounding set influenced by Talk Talk and the Blue Nile. They covered the latter band's classic "Downtown Lights" on the following year's Real People EP, which had a more dancefloor-oriented style and featured vocals from Frankie Rose. Small Black's passion for sophisti-pop grew on October 2015's Best Blues. Recorded by the band in their Brooklyn home studio and mixed by Nicholas Vernhes at the Rare Book Room Studio, the album included contributions from trumpeter Darby Cicci of the Antlers and vocalist Kaede Ford. Soon after Best Blues' release, Kolenik's Uncle Matt passed away, and the memory of him inspired many of the songs on Small Black's fourth album. Arriving on 100% Electronica in April 2021, the reflective Cheap Dreams found the band returning from their hiatus with an extra dose of goth to their synth pop reveries. In 2023, Small Black looked back with a pair of archival releases. They commemorated the tenth anniversary of Limits of Desire with a deluxe edition of the album, and also issued a deluxe version of their debut EP that included previously unreleased songs from their early beach house sessions.

Biography by Heather Phares for ALLMUSIC

Big Ideas Pt. 2
Small Black Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

I recall a time when the moon
Was full
And you had no idea
Where you were
Side by side
Came out to surrender
I wore the best
Thing I could find

Love is a choice
Love is no answer
Back through the empty
House of the zodiac
Onto some
Better myth
Death is one thing
To be dead is another
It was the last thing on my mind
Maybe, I'd like to
Live in this place
Maybe, I'd like to be for you
What you are for me
What you are
What you are for me
Love is a choice
Love is no answer

Love is
A choice like any other

Overall Meaning

The lyrics of Small Black's song Big Ideas, Pt. 2 are reflective and dreamy, depicting the importance of love as a personal choice rather than an answer to life's questions. The opening lines recall a past moment when the moon was full and the singer's unidentified partner was lost. The next phrases imply the two of them walking side by side and surrendering, hinting at either a reconciliation or an act of acceptance. The singer describes wearing the best thing they could find to highlight the potential significance of this moment, which is then contrasted with the statement that love is a choice, not an answer.

The next few phrases form a metaphor: the empty house of the zodiac represents a place where astrology's whims have no effect on our personal choices. The singer then moves onto the "better myth," hinting that perhaps true love is not a mystery of the universe, unlike the stars above. The final verses continue the song's earlier motifs, emphasizing the personal freedom to choose love as an answer to life. The lines "Maybe, I'd like to live in this place/Maybe, I'd like to be for you what you are for me" highlight the potential for growth in a relationship, as the singer considers a life together.

Line by Line Meaning

I recall a time when the moon
I remember a specific moment when the moon was present

was full
it was completely illuminated

and you had no idea
and you lacked knowledge or understanding

where you were
of your location

side by side
next to each other

came out to surrender
emerged to submit to someone or something

I wore the best
I had on the highest quality

thing I could find
out of the available options

love is a choice
deciding to care and act on it is a decision one makes

love is no answer
it is not a solution to all concerns or issues

back through the empty
returning through the vacant

house of the zodiac
the twelve astrological constellations

onto some
onto a specific

better myth
a more positive, yet fabricated, narrative

death is one thing
the state of being deceased is a reality

to be dead is another
however, the experience of being dead is different from death itself

it was the last thing on my mind
I was not giving any thought or consideration to it

Maybe, I'd like to
Perhaps, I would be interested in

live in this place
reside in this particular location

Maybe, I'd like to be for you
Possibly, I would enjoy filling what you desire

what you are for me
similar to the role you play in my life

what you are
the qualities or attributes that define you

love is a choice
deciding to care and act on it is a decision one makes

love is no answer
it is not a solution to all concerns or issues

love is
caring for someone genuinely

a choice like any other
just like any other decision we make

Lyrics © SC PUBLISHING DBA SECRETLY CANADIAN PUB.
Written by: Jeffrey Urso Curtin, Joshua Hayden Kolenik, Juan Pieczanski, Ryan Frank Heyner

Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind

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