These sounds, man. How does he do it? After leaving Our Love behind this feels like coming home. And sure, the kitchen’s been refurbished, and there’s a different carpet to what was there before. But it’s still the same place, and it still holds the same memories and the same resonances. Those twinkling synth lines, the piano stabs – almost-tacky in their sound but not quite – the simplicity of a sonic palette that oozes delight, that oozes warm, nostalgic care. It still feels like the same thing.
And you never come back / And you never come back to
And we have missed Dan Snaith’s voice! That reassuring almost synthesised, near-whisper rising out those textures. It’s oceanic, or like diving into oceans at least. That sort of splendid warmth of water rushing over you. I spend so much time thinking and writing about yearning that sometimes I forget the joy of having and holding, of yearning satisfied.
I can never forget it / Promise me you don’t regret it
There’s something about Dan’s voice that embodies the feeling of treasuring tender things. No gap between object and desire, just intimate collision. Not wondering about what could be or what a future might look like but a total present-tense surrender to right now.
And the way the track unwinds. Releasing thick waves of serotonin with each pull of the tide. Just listen to the way that high-hat slips in behind the piano in the final leg, or that, guitar? Is it? Just dropping in for the final thirty seconds! The attention to detail, like he’s a new stepdad trying to make sure we have the best birthday ever. Even as the track fades you can hear new bits appearing, his vocal melody hitting new directions. Barely heard but recognised Dan! We recognise it! And we are appreciative!
I can never forget it / Promise me you don’t regret it
Time is a fucking goon, man. And you look up one minute and all of the joy, the moments that were just moments are suddenly memories. And the people that were there aren’t anymore. Having and holding slips so neatly into yearning. It’s such a stupid cliché but time really pulls the rug out from you. Caribou invites you to recognise the pleasure of being where you are now. To sit with it a moment and pay attention, before it stops entirely.
Listen to the track here
vandal 