Papercuts is the musical project of singer-songwriter Jason Robert Quever. With all kinds of technology at his disposal, Quever eschewed the computer for a refreshing analog sound that plays wonderfully to his calming dream pop.
You Can Have What You Want presents a throwback to the non-digital world, with infectious melodies caught in reverb heaven. There is deep, lovely atmosphere that surrounds Quever’s vocals, often channeling a greatly subdued Thom Yorke.
Quever dives right into his pseudo-psychedelia in the opening “Once We Walked In The Sunlight” that expresses the hang-out-in-my-basement mantra of yesteryear where the music set the vibe and the only words spoken were conveying breath and a nominal vital sign.
“Dictator’s Lament” takes it up a notch with its casual, yet exotic organ melody that unsurprisingly masks its religious tone: “I can’t find no one worthy of taking the throne / Look down at the peasants below who see god but are scared to follow.” On further listen, it’s more apparent that the theme is that of a higher power’s existence and not necessarily that of God’s rule on His free-willed children. The following “The Machine Will Tell Us So” mentions of a machine that will control us, but the machine can be analogous for so many things, God and Big Brother included: “Don’t be scared / Put your fears aside and strap on the electrodes / If bliss lies beyond / The machine will tell us so.”
But of course, the idea of a higher power or the thought of something controlling us might be something we all need at one point. Hopefully, eventually we can come to the realization of our own power in life; however, all possibilities have their own outcomes with “The Void” putting its own quasi-purgatory spin on things. Ultimately, I think we should all just live by the advice of “You Can Have What You Want” and simply live your life.
Papercuts’ You Can Have What You Want is a lovely album, wrought with startling somber imagery tucked beneath its pleasant dream pop haze.
[photos via Force Field PR]
[photos via Dana Laman]
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Track list:
- 1. Once We Walked In The Sunlight
2. A Dictator’s Lament
3. The Machine Will Tell Us So
4. A Peculiar Hallelujah
5. Jet Plane
6. Dead Love
7. Future Primitive
8. You Can Have What You Want
9. The Void
10. The Wolf