There’s something about Canada
It is a double feature this week; two outstanding musicians from my neighbor to the north, Canada. The fact that I am only now getting to featuring these brilliant artists is evidence of just how behind I constantly am, there are just so many amazing artists on Twitch. I have been enjoying both Colleen & Cam’s music for awhile now and I am excited to dive in and discuss it. There is something about Canada I don’t know exactly what it is but I seem to have a connection with music that originates from there more than just about any other place.
Find their music and live streams at the links below:
Colleen - Twitch, Official Website
Releasing You
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Releasing You ~
Colleen just released a new single and it is astounding. This track is heavy, and full of depth. For me it was one of those songs where it ends and it seems like it just started yet there you are in a puddle of your feelings as you’ve just experienced something deeply touching. Not only are the lyrics magnificent, the delivery is also astounding. This song has smashed into me like an emotional freight train each and every time I have listened to it. It is written in such a way that I imagine applying it in a number of different contexts. Did one person in this relationship mess up royally, perhaps both made a contribution to the demise or maybe something came between that neither of them could control. While it seems to be the least likely, the last one is my favorite because I am a super emo kid and love ending with neither person being at fault is Shakespearean tragedy type stuff. Regardless of your particular interpretation this track is superb:
Just give me one more kiss before you go
Look me in the eye and promise me you didn’t know
That one day you would let it break
And watch as we evaporate
And I’ll pretend that I can still believe in you
Before releasing you
This track is so powerful I felt compelled to not only listen but to feel and to process my own emotions. It was a genuinely unique listening experience as I reflected on experiences of my past.
100 Days
How can a heart completely disappear?
Why did you capture mine to only release it?
And walk away pretending like I’m not right here…
Spending 100 days out in the rain waiting
But I don’t know how to make
My heart forget that it was ever yours
I love the powerful imagery created by this track; Colleen possesses a real talent for setting a scene with her songs. Each one brings a new story to life. There is a real passion and fervor in both the lyrics and delivery of this track, the exact context of the lyrics aren’t necessary to truly understand and take in the anguish of this song because it causes you to feel it so strongly.
gotaway
There is a such a stellar contrast between the verses of this track and the many ways got away is used throughout the song is inspired, I love it. It is a certified pop bop that contains within it a deeply emotional and vulnerable message. Love can cause this certain fury like nothing else can and some of that fury is evident in this song. Opening yourself up to love really causes you to see all the sides of yourself and hopefully it helps you to accept them. That is the feeling I got from this track which feels so amazingly honest.
I start to believe I’m not good enough
I doubt that I even deserve your love
I’m fighting my instinct to mess it up
Cuz I need you too much, I need you too much
And I don’t want you to be
The one that got away
Runaways
I don’t often discuss cover tracks but as a huge fan of The Killers and more specifically Brandon Flowers who loved this cover I had to mention it. His singing, his songwriting has always amazed me ever since I saw The Killers open for Jimmy Eat World about two decades ago before Hot Fuss became a sensation. I am particular about covers of their songs; and I thoroughly enjoyed this cover. I was blown away in fact; Colleen accomplishes everything I want from a cover, she captured the lifeblood of the original track and added a particular spin of her own which really makes it memorable.
Cam, Camnesiac, ostrom
He goes by many names but what never seems to change is how consistently good his music is. “I See You” is a track that does a superb job at expressing just how exposed you can feel when you open yourself up to love. So many different things from your past will just come flooding in. You may worry that you aren’t worthy of the love you’re finding. You may feel that you will just screw it up as you have before. Or that regardless of what you do it will inevitably come crashing down as it has in the past. In spite of all that you have to be willing to jump in anyway. Love is one of the greater risks many of us take in our lives but it should also bring the greatest joy we have experienced. It can be a long and arduous search; this song makes me think of all that and it does so in a most compelling way.
What do I mean when I can't switch off
What do I mean when I can't let go
I see you
I see you
Touch me
I'm falling in love and
I'm insecure
Hold me and
Touch me
Familiar Window
When I looked through the window
I saw nothing I hadn't seen before
Waving trees and bumblebees
And a river unwinding
Cracks in the pane
Chips in the frame
That old, familiar sound
When you say my name
I find this track particularly interesting; it is saying a lot in a very short time and I feel like I am probably missing much of its meaning but I’ll tell you what it means for me. I picture it as a tale of a return which in part one of physical nature but also and perhaps more so one of an emotional, mental return. If you have ever gone through a time where you went on a journey of self discovery and separated yourself from everything you begin to feel as if you are in another world entirely. Then you come back to your old life and things feel both familiar yet also changed in a way. It is this kaleidoscopic experience as you are seeing the same world you left but you are viewing it through this entirely different lens.
