LogFAQs > #955391851

I try to avoid music videos when they deviate from the recorded version, but I really adore this one and don't think it takes too much away from the song (there's a part where the video cuts to silence while the song has no breaks)

167. Aldous Harding The Barrel (2019)
from the album Designer

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QyZeJr5ppm8

Key lyrics:
Show the ferret to the egg

On its surface, The Barrel feels like the most unassuming song I am covering in this project. In 2019, it is hard to argue this quietly comforting folk song was breaking new ground. Though I have found myself returning to it over and over again these last couple years, expressing why I find it so alluring proves difficult. This is by design though her tracks tend to be less sonically aggressive, Aldous Harding writes with the same impenetrable lyricism that defined much of Becks career. But where Beck tended toward a playful nature, there is something quietly eerie about the contrast here.

Aldous Hardings voice is warm, the piano light as a feather. The baritone sax that accompanies her into the chorus matches that gentleness. A man joins her in harmony during the first chorus the second time around turns a bit off-putting as a third voice chimes in. Aldous sings with a childlike timbre; man, woman, and child sing as one. Though the lyrics are indecipherable, the imagery conveyed feels just telling enough. While singing with an incomparable serenity, Hardings words express deeper concern. With the lyrics seeming to float right outside my comprehension, I feel the urge to crack them open. And though I might never understand, I have been rewarded by recognizing how rare it is to stumble across such a tranquil song.

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My top 100 games (with write-ups): https://foolfantastic.com/top-100-video-games-project/