FAWM: "This Game We Both Lose"

This Game We Both Lose

Liner Notes

There's this band in Kyoto called Pile of Hex who I saw last year. They're like Radiohead with Bjork on lead vocals, but Japanese (obviously). They're pretty sick, and when I saw them I thought to myself that I need to get back to making music that's a little more challenging than verse/chorus/verse/chorus indie pop. So this is my attempt at doing a Pile of Hex impression (without the Bjork bit, you can only be what you can be, right?).

I guess lyrically it's generally about enshitification, but I tend not to worry too much about concrete themes when I'm lyric writing. Writing these lyrics was a weird, and not uncommon, experience where I failed for hours to come up with a single word, and then they all just fell out of me in about 15 minutes. I know we're all doing this, but I'm quite pleased with myself that I was able to bash this out in 24 hours. The music part was quite fun. I do regret writing my most emo vocal while I've got a cold, but hey, this ain't album recording month is it!

#midwest90semo #postrock #indierock

I also realised midway through writing this that I nicked a chord change from Supergrass' "In It For The Money", which might be weirdly appropriate.

Also, I offer a figurative* Drifter bar to the person who knows what movie the title references.

*(or literal, that's how people use that word now, right?)

Lyrics

A winter spent waiting for nothing at all What we used to pay for is behind a paywall But I don't know where the money goes The waste is invisible The waste is invisible to me

How much of your life did you actually choose?

Did you really think this would come for free? Market susceptible, queues out the door No-one believed you when you said less is more

Lights out It's just the sound Of a ship going down I forever feel alone Say hello to the unknown And maybe you don't know what is right

Did you really think this would come for free? A summer spent waiting for nothing at all I was sleeping when you answered my call

How much of my time have I let slip away? Can you define a wasted day?

There must be a limit to the things they can take There must be a limit to patience

Comments

@vomvorton 2d

Impressive, thanks for following the "interesting song composition with lots of different parts" Radiohead path rather than the parts I've always found somewhat objectionable. Been thinking a lot about enshittification recently but my brain is too enshittified to get a song out of it

@zecoopMod 6d

What an awesome vibe. LOVE the shimmery guitars and that bass is killer. Of course when it gets serious, then everything is amazing. This is a seriously well crafted song. I guess I need to look for Pile of Hex. Loved this

@ampersandman 6d

The second the guitar started playing I knew I would love this song! In fact it's one of my favorites this year so far. The break at 1:24 came unexpected but then you take the song to the next level. Really great dynamics in the arrangement. All the sounds are so tastefully chosen, the reverb-y clean guitar, the bass, the subtle textures in the background. And the lyrics also hit home. Bravo! Just a fantastic song!

@adforperu 6d

Radiohead with Bjork on vocals? I'll check them out! I do love how versatile you are in your mixes - the last one I commented couldn't be more different, but both mixes really do elevate each song. This is great, love the chorus and your choice of playing the bass up the neck rather than the root notes, very nice. The halftime bit with the fast hi-hats is really rather lovely.

@wynia 1w

This is an anthem! The chordal shifts on "how much of your life did you actually choose" are really interesting to my ear. I like the change-ups in mood throughout, from wall of sound to subdued. Percussion is really nice throughout

@frenchcricket 1w

It’s hard to scream at the pointlessness of it all isn’t it, when it’s all so diffuse? The subtle guitar on the right channel is so nice. That build up section is great as well with the eerie synths.

@artie 1w

Dude, you emo’d the f*k outta this! The beat is super fresh and I loved the change up for the chorus. The arrangement blends so nicely.

@bxphane 1w

That's my kind of music, really great! Awesome arpeggios, and the vocal performance is crazy too. Really impressive performance on the hi-hat, my arms ache just listening to it!

@balancelost 1w

Thank you! I'm so glad you liked it. With this kind of hi-hat pattern it's all in the wrist and fingers. You shouldn't even need to move your arm. These drums are programmed though, so no aching necessary! 😅

@communitykickabout 1w

I live the line "noone believed you when you said less is more". When the big shabby chords come in I am so there for it, great contrast against the picked sections before.

@spikedirection 1w

Thematically this hits me where I live, things used to be so great and exciting, in tech especially, and now it's all just getting worse. And this postrock vibe is perfect for communicating that. I love a lot of Japanese bands, they seem to often have a slight cultural distortion of western music that creates something really exciting, I often feel it must be a great place to be as a music fan, but I've never been. Poor and terrified of flying. I digress, love this track! great job xxx