Some of the most unique and memorable tracks are the ones that attempt to simulate highly specific and complex feelings solely using instrumental effects – it’s remarkable that it’s completely possible to pluck guitar in a repetitive manner that duplicates the palpitations of a beating heart, or to layer bass to replicate driving on an open highway – or, more so in the case of newcomers Academia, somehow delicately and deliberately manipulate synth in such a way that simulates not only the idea of a lovesick daydream, but actually mimics the feeling of floating in one of your very own. In “Dreaming,” the first single from seventeen year old Raleigh native Ethan Analco, beams and shards of glimmering synth ricochet off each other as if coexisting as pastel tinged debris and detritus within an equally pastel tinged, lovelorn ether, Analco’s smooth, blissed out vocals perpetually in an echoed state as if within and without his own creation. While hazy and fluid in nature musically, the lyrical narrative is quite self-aware, with Analco addressing his quick departure from reality with an almost tangible twinge of guilt: “I am dreaming of a better time/ friends ask if I’m okay/ I say I’m fine.” But then he returns to his thoughts, playfully admitting his shyness, that all he wants to say that “you look cute in green.” Considering the track was inspired by the experiences and pains of a past relationship, the wistfulness and youthful nativity is understood, but the fact that you never really escape the ether at the end feels charming rather than something completely futile – there’s definitely some pleasure in pain, and Academia seems to have the concept down in one beautiful little simulation.
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photo courtesy of artist
kid with a vinyl 