“We do our best to defy stereotypes,” says Jessica Freedman. “The whole approach has been to distance ourselves from kitsch,” chimes in Ben McLain. “And we don’t go ‘dow,’” adds Rachel Bearer.
Dow?
“That’s one of the words vocal groups use to emulate an instrument, like a guitar, with a made-up syllable,” Freedman explains. “We steer clear of that in arrangements.”
With a cappella vocal groups proliferating madly on college campuses and infiltrating the mainstream via TV shows like Glee, Sonos couldn’t have emerged at a more propitious time. But the three women (Freedman, Bearer and Katharine Hoye) and three men (McLain, Chris Harrison and Paul Peglar) who produce its tapestry of tones are swimming against the tide of jukebox set lists, doo-wop inflections and collegiate shtick in their quest to take a cappella music to a new, more sensual, more musically adventurous destination.
They’ve already won plaudits from such tastemakers as Chris Douridas of L.A. bellwether station KCRW-FM, who praised Sonos’ “innovative vocal arrangements” and “inspired repertoire, supremely delivered.” “Prepare to be stunned,” advised the U.K. newspaper The Guardian, while Campus Circle lauded their “unaccompanied magnificence.” Beyond admiring the group’s sonic achievements, critics also noted its “sexual tension” (L.A. tastemaker outlet The Deli Magazine) and “sex appeal” (Pasadena Weekly).
On its debut album, SonoSings, the group combines a rich, classically choral sensibility with an ultra-modern repertoire and sonic toolkit. The result is a spellbinding fusion of ancient and contemporary sounds, as songs by the likes of Radiohead (“Everything in Its Right Place”), Sara Bareilles (an a cappella veteran herself, she joins Sonos for a rendition of her “Gravity”), Fleet Foxes (“White Winter Hymnal”), Bon Iver (“Stacks”), Rufus Wainwright (“Oh What a World”), Björk (“Joga”), Imogen Heap (“Come Here Boy”) and other cutting-edge creators are transformed into mesmerizing vehicles for voices only.
The only pre-existing pop megahit in the batch is “I Want You Back,” but the group’s moody, trip-hop rendition radically re-imagines the tune – bringing out the dark, despairing lyrics that were all but negated by the Jackson 5’s bouncy, bubblegum original. With the passing of Michael Jackson, the version serves as an emotional homage.
Harrison produced and mixed the disc (with Gabriel Mann and manager Hugo Vereker, who assembled the group, provided A&R direction on the album and dreamed up the stark reworking of “I Want You Back”); he also handled several arrangements.
“Chris is a freakin’ genius arranger,” enthuses Freedman, “but we all have experience arranging and writing music, and we bring so many diverse backgrounds to the table that we’re greater than the sum of our parts.” Indeed, Freedman, Bearer and Hoye all contributed sterling arrangements to SonoSings. Agrees McLain, “If any of us weren’t what we are, Sonos wouldn’t be Sonos.”
Performing “I Want You Back” and other songs live, Sonos further pushes the envelope with the judicious use of effects pedals, guided by resident “gearhead” Harrison. McLain, in addition to singing leads and harmonies, contributes beatboxing that’s looped into a panoply of polyrhythms. (He developed the latter skill while lying in bed in his small-town California home, listening to hip-hop station KMEL-FM; his first cassette, he volunteers, was Very Necessary by Salt-N-Pepa.) But that’s just the tip of the technological iceberg.
“We’re very comfortable performing purely acoustically,” explains England-born, L.A.-bred Hoye, who attended the famed Berklee School of Music before heading to UCLA, where she met her future co-harmonizers. “But in the studio and playing live with a sound system, we essentially make electronic vocal music. We think of our collection of pedals and loops as the seventh member of the group.”
“When we sing ‘I Want You Back,’ I use an octave pedal,” she adds, referring to a device that splits notes played or sung into two tones an octave apart. “That way, I get to fulfill my fantasy, as an alto, of singing bass. You can hear a bass part, but I’m the only one singing. It confuses people.”
That said, the electronics are a small part of the picture – the Sonos experience is first and foremost about how “You can go from nothing to something just by opening your mouth,” as Cleveland-born Cali transplant Peglar – whose stratospheric range is variously described as “rock tenor” and “ballsy falsetto” by his compatriots, and who’s been spotted playing keyboards on the aforementioned TV series Glee – puts it.
Like almost everything else about the group, its origin and development have been unconventional. “We sort of became a band backwards,” explains elder statesman Harrison. “We formed, rehearsed, made a record and then started performing live.”
The San Diego native – who grew up watching his dad playing in bluegrass bands – sang in the famed UCLA vocal ensemble known as Awaken A Cappella with Bareilles and fellow future Sonos members Freedman (who comes from Santa Rosa, Calif.) and Peglar. The latter two had attended high school in Santa Rosa with McLain.
Bearer – who grew up singing opera in Tulsa, Okla. (“the buckle of the Bible Belt”) – had been kept from pop music by her musical-purist parents, but says singing a cappella changed her life completely. She attended both UCLA and USC, and was a member of celebrated a cappella ensemble SoCal Vocals when she met Harrison, who invited her to audition for the group; after a mere five rehearsals, she flew to New York for a performance.
Rather than bang out the record over a few months, Sonos took its sweet time. “We recorded the Radiohead track nearly three years ago, and we added two new tracks the day before it was mastered,” Freedman reveals. “It spans our entire evolution as a group. We’ve really grown into our own sound and style.”
They performed their first gig at the Santa Rosa high school Freedman, McLain and Peglar had attended together. While their vocal mix clearly delighted the crowd, Peglar recalls, their visual presentation hadn’t yet evolved. “I watched a video of it and promptly deleted it,” he relates, “because it was not what we wanted to present to people.” Some seven months passed before their next show, however, and the group soon developed its signature presentational style – sleek, sexy and confrontational, with an air of mystery not often found in the a cappella world.
Perhaps the ensemble’s most revelatory live moment thus far came in the gorgeously austere confines of a 17th Century London church, where they sang for an audience of fans, friends and industry folk. Performing “White Winter Hymnal” and “Gravity,” particularly, in such a setting, Peglar remembers, “Was kind of a checkpoint, because it was the six of us and the audience, with nothing in the way. I’d never even been overseas, so just being in London was amazing; compounding that was making music with my friends in this incredible church.”
“There’s something organic and mysterious about singing a cappella,” Peglar continues. “It’s beautiful and intangible. It could’ve been centuries earlier with a piece of classical music, but we’re taking something from last year and making it just as haunting and interesting. I think that’s what’s most captivating about us.” Manager Vereker reports that the music-business types in attendance were stunned. “Almost every one of them came up to me afterward,” he says, “and told me they’d never seen anything like it in their lives.”
With its debut album complete at last, the group is prepared to bring its one-of-a-kind vocal blend to the world – and plans to pepper its tour schedule with venues like performing-arts centers, colleges and even living rooms. But whether they’re in a courtyard, a club or a concert hall, Sonos will always seek that intangible, mysterious, intimate fusion of timeless tones and modern meaning – with nary a “dow” to be heard.
Sonos performed on Season 3 of the NBC show "The Sing-Off" and they were eliminated in the 4th episode.
Everything In Its Right Place
Sonos Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Everything
Everything
Everything
In its right place
In its right place
In its right place
In its right place
Yesterday I woke up sucking on a lemon
Yesterday I woke up sucking on a lemon
Yesterday I woke up sucking on a lemon
Yesterday I woke up sucking on a lemon
Everything
Everything
Everything
In its right place
In its right place
In its right place
Right place
There are two colors in my head
There are two colors in my head
What is that you tried to say
What is that you tried to say
Tried to say
Tried to say
Tried to say
Tried to say
Tried to say
Everything
Everything
Everything
The lyrics to Sonos's song Everything In Its Right Place may seem repetitive at first glance, but upon closer inspection, they hold a deeper meaning. The repetition of "Everything in its right place" emphasizes the importance of finding balance and order in one's life. It suggests that when things are in their proper place, everything can fall into line and make sense. This desire for order is further supported by the repetition of the line "Yesterday I woke up sucking on a lemon." This line could represent the sour taste left in one's mouth when life is chaotic and out of order.
The second half of the song introduces a new element with the line "There are two colors in my head, what is that you tried to say?" This line is open to interpretation but could represent the duality of one's thoughts, with the two colors representing conflicting ideas or emotions. The repetition of "Tried to say" could signify the struggle to communicate or articulate these opposing thoughts. The song ends with a final repetition of "Everything in its right place," suggesting that even in the face of internal conflict, finding balance and order is still a priority.
Line by Line Meaning
Everything
Everything is exactly where it should be
Everything
Every aspect of life is perfect just as it is
Everything
All things are right where they belong
Everything
Each and every detail has fallen into place
In its right place
Each element of life is in its appropriate position
In its right place
Everything is situated perfectly
In its right place
All things have found their proper location
In its right place
Every piece of the puzzle is in its optimal spot
Yesterday I woke up sucking on a lemon
Yesterday began with a sour taste in my mouth
Yesterday I woke up sucking on a lemon
The previous day started off on a bad note
Yesterday I woke up sucking on a lemon
I started the day feeling unwell
Yesterday I woke up sucking on a lemon
I woke up feeling discontented
There are two colors in my head
I have two conflicting emotions or thoughts
There are two colors in my head
My mind is divided
What is that you tried to say
What exactly were you trying to communicate
What is that you tried to say
What was the message you were attempting to convey
Tried to say
Made an effort to express something
Tried to say
Attempted to communicate a thought or idea
Everything
All aspects of life are in perfect harmony
Everything
Every detail of existence is where it should be
Everything
The entirety of reality has found its proper place
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Colin Charles Greenwood, Edward John O'Brien, Jonathan Richard Guy Greenwood, Philip James Selway, Thomas Edward Yorke
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Ariel Hill
I remember when you guys were the judges at our choir competition in Denver! you guys were awesome!!!
Optomystyc
I'm in love. Seriously, this song is awesome and you guys are amazing. THANK YOU!
Ravi
Magnifique cover
Miele Tarantal
remarkable... will look for the album :D
Lucy Berkins
beautiful. tears to my eyes
mary melillo
i know right! I know theres something like 32 chords in the song but yeah,paranoid android, please! p.s you guys got robbed and def should have made it at least past the top ten on the singoff in my humble opinion, but hey at least pentatonix won.
Erik Martin
Please for the love of God do Paranoid Android.
MCLemonyfresh
good stuff
James Rosen
Little bit too much phasing on the main vox for my liking, and a bit too high in the mix. But a nice rework, besides that :)
Matej Lipták
Oooo melanish ooo melanish....