Time and changes distance Tamaryn’s Cranekiss from her earlier efforts, and… Read Full Bio ↴Time and changes distance Tamaryn’s Cranekiss from her earlier efforts, and for that matter, from everyone else’s. Time, by way of the long period spent crafting this material, both on her own and with Weekend’s Shaun Durkan, who with producer Jorge Elbrecht (Violens, Lansing-Dreiden), make up the creative team behind Cranekiss. Changes, by relocating across the country from San Francisco to New York City, by expanding the approach taken on her two previous albums (2010’s The Waves and 2012’s Tender New Signs), by making music that pulls you closer to it despite the enormity of the sounds within.

Tamaryn’s first two full-lengths stood out in a crowd of shoegaze/ethereal revivalists as much for what they were (careful, gorgeous, thrilling tapestries of guitar-based textures) as what they weren’t (simplistic, trendy, disposable signposts made to be broken). With Cranekiss, Tamaryn emerges from her past in a way that’s inviting, warm-blooded, and shockingly direct. She’s made a big record, loaded with samples, synth triggers and processing that was missing from her previous efforts, the result of long nights grinding it out at the Brooklyn studio Gary’s Electric, where the record was born. The Waves and Tender New Signs focused on the sounds Tamaryn and her group could coax out of guitars, but with Cranekiss her sonic palette has exploded with maniacal abandon, pressed into service of a post-adolescent love letter to all the music that she and her collaborators hold dear, drawing influences from the feelings that fell out of her. Anyone familiar enough with those times should be able to draw their own comparisons, recognizing the modes of musical respect and adoration flashing past as the record spins. From there, though, Tamaryn has modeled these elements into simulacra, where despite the nods and glances to the past, play as a totally new sound.

Lyrically, this is Tamaryn’s most personal collection of songs to date, and Elbrecht has placed her voice front and center across the entire record, elevating her presence like never before. Cranekiss explores dark rock, dance pop, and glistening melancholy with a uniformly commanding presence across it all, in stormy, unsettled brushstrokes that apply pressure behind Tamaryn’s words.

Cranekiss represents a long journey, and a new phase in Tamaryn’s music unfolding before you, a blood-red kaleidoscope of desire and late night abandon, a bold step forward.

www.tamarynmusic.com

Light Shadows
Tamaryn Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

see them driving in their cars
cold stares hollow eyes like stars
see their cold stares
...like they're not there or here even
you've closed yourself from worlds outside
haunting yourself with what's not right
hollow eyes
see your cold stare

like your not there

or here
even

Overall Meaning

The lyrics of Tamaryn's song "Light Shadows" talk about the disconnection from the world that some people experience. The songwriter implies that this disconnection is caused by the individual's own choosing, as they have closed themselves off from the outside world. The song paints a picture of people driving around in their cars, their cold and hollow stares resembling stars, shining with a distant light. The use of this imagery emphasizes the feeling of emptiness that comes with disconnection, as if the people are not really present, only going through the motions.

The lyrics go on to suggest that closing oneself off from the world can lead to haunting oneself with thoughts of what is not right. This likely pertains to feelings of anxiety and depression that can come from this disconnection. The repetition of the line "like you're not even here" emphasizes the songwriter's message that those who are disconnected from the world are not truly present in it, as if they are not really living.

Line by Line Meaning

see them driving in their cars
Observing the people in their automobiles

cold stares hollow eyes like stars
Their eyes resemble a starless night sky, devoid of emotion or warmth

see their cold stares
Taking notice of their frigid glares

...like they're not there or here even
Their appearance and demeanor suggest a detachment from the present moment and surroundings

you've closed yourself from worlds outside
Referring to an internal state of isolation or disconnection from external experiences

haunting yourself with what's not right
Being preoccupied with negative thoughts or emotions that linger and disturb the mind

hollow eyes
Eyes that lack vitality or depth

see your cold stare
Acknowledging the icy gaze directed towards oneself

like your not there
Sensing a feeling of emptiness or absence

or here
Indicating a detachment from the present moment and physical surroundings

even
Emphasizing this sense of detachment and absence