Waiting for new music and patience isn’t my strong suit. But, for now, my waiting can go temporarily on hold due to Real Estate releasing a new song which I only just discovered in the wee hours of the night. Yes, I have listened to it over and over since. Their new album, Atlas which comes out in the states on March 4, is highly anticipated after a drought of no new music following their amazing album, Days, of 2011. Gosh, has it been that long? Well, their last album had me over the moon and yes, I still listen over and over because it just doesn’t grow old to me. It even caused me to beg them to travel south and tour, of which I never had any satisfaction.
“Talking Backwards”, their new song, has the unique thumbprint of Real Estate. You just can’t miss it, their strumming guitar, the soft rolling sound of the other instruments, the steady beat of the drums, and the vocals that smoothly glide in and out. The lyrics of “Talking Backwards” are poignant to me because I can totally relate to the idea of talking and talking and not really saying anything, or maybe not really what you want to say. The words from your heart can stay all clogged up because you are scared of the changes that your words might prompt. Moving forward is so very hard to do, yet staying stagnant, still, and not moving at all is dangerously easy. Going backwards is another thought all together. My stream of conciousness signals when “backwards” has actually happened while I am involved in an important conversation. You know the conversation I am talking about, where you get one and only one chance to strip down the fluff and really express yourself. After the attempt, you realize the other person doesn’t understand at all what you were trying to say. Dang! Human error reminds me of our frailty and vulnerability. That’s when I wish for a do-over that may or may not ever occur again. “Talking Backwards” is a simple song with what I perceive as a complicated message.
You never mind about that, I know that I dig too deeply in music. On a more simple note, Real Estate is one of those bands that just pleases me. I love to listen to them when I am driving. Their sound comforts me when I have miles of road ahead of me or calms me when I have a million things to check off of a to-do list. If for some reason you haven’t heard their other songs, you have a couple of months to dive in now and prepare for the smash that the new album, Atlas, is going to be. A tour south to support the album would leave me swooning! Enjoy!
