Devised by programmer/songwriter Wade Alin and vocalist Lauren Cheatham, The Atomica Project made waves in the chillout/electronic music community with their 2005 debut release, Metropolitan. Based heavily on Alin’s personal experiences in New York, Metropolitan illustrates a compelling story of loss, affliction, collapse and recovery. Fueled by heavy podcast rotation, enthusiastic reviews, and an extensive online following, Metropolitan was considered by many as one of the best independent releases of 2005.
The Atomica Project’s sophomore release, Grayscale, exhibits a more heavily orchestrated, lavish sound that further incorporates organic instrumentation and exemplifies the emotional impact of Lauren Cheatham's delivery. Following the release of Grayscale, the band continued to build their momentum, taking advantage of new formats (USB drive/download) to release two EP's: The 1st In A Series Of Dramatic Events and Overseas. Both EP's were released independently via their own online store/label (www.flagrantrecords.com) and accompanied by tours of the Midwest and East Coast including headlining shows in Chicago, Boston, and New York, as well as an appearance at the 2009 Forward Music Festival.
Throughout the bands travels it was widely assumed that Wade and Lauren were intimate. This misperception inspired the title of their third full-length album, The Non-Affair. Musically, the band elaborates on their previous work with more venturous arrangements and stylistic flirtations with everything from the 1940's to the modern shoe-gaze genre. Lyrically, the songs push further into the intimate spaces of relationships, identity, and change.
Always current and comfortable with the reality of a collapsed music business, The Atomica Project has teamed up with the creative funding site, kickstarter.com. The entire manufacturing process has been fully funded by fans and supporters of the band.
The Non-Affair is available on CD, digital download, and a 1 gigabyte USB drive since February 26, 2010.
Bittersweet
The Atomica Project Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
The bittersweet and incomplete
The feeling i'm surrounded by you
The great mistakes that people make
I'll always feel a bit betrayed by you
Your anger simply compliments
The feeling i am hunted by you
Be squandered by the fact you still blame me
The bittersweet and incomplete
The feeling i'm completed by you
The great mistakes that people make
I'll always feel a bit destroyed by you
The seconds pass and complicate
The walls that have been built around us
A taste of losing everything
And one thing i will always love more than you
I told myself i had the stregnth to overcome
I am one amoung a million and a part of everyone
I told myself the world is greater than us both
I can barely grasp the magnitude of what it means to hope.
The Atomica Project's song Bittersweet captures the complex and often contradictory emotions that can arise in a relationship. The lyrics speak to a sense of incompleteness and betrayal, with the singer feeling both surrounded and hunted by their partner. At the same time, there is a feeling of completion and destruction, with the relationship both enhancing and complicating the singer's life.
The song seems to be grappling with the idea of love as a double-edged sword. There is a sense of bitterness and disappointment that comes with caring deeply for another person, and the potential for hurt is always present. Yet despite this, there is also a recognition that love can be a powerful force, one that completes and overwhelms us in equal measure.
Line by Line Meaning
The bittersweet and incomplete
The complex and mixed feelings that are unfulfilled
The feeling i'm surrounded by you
The sense of being enclosed by your presence
The great mistakes that people make
The significant errors that humans commit
I'll always feel a bit betrayed by you
I will forever have a sense of letdown from you
Your anger simply compliments
Your rage only adds to
The feeling i am hunted by you
The perception of being pursued by you
I've seen your will to overwhelm
I have witnessed your desire to dominate
Be squandered by the fact you still blame me
However, it is wasted due to your continual accusation of me
The feeling i'm completed by you
The sensation of being whole by your side
The seconds pass and complicate
Time moves on and makes things more intricate
The walls that have been built around us
The barriers that have been created between us
A taste of losing everything
A glimpse of losing all that matters
And one thing I will always love more than you
And yet, there is always one thing I cherish more than you
I told myself I had the strength to overcome
I convinced myself that I had the power to surmount
I am one among a million and a part of everyone
I am just one person in a multitude and a fraction of humanity
I told myself the world is greater than us both
I convinced myself that the whole universe is larger than our relationship
I can barely grasp the magnitude of what it means to hope.
I can hardly comprehend the enormity of having hope.
Contributed by Jayce C. Suggest a correction in the comments below.