Podcast Episode 1: Cavetown, Sharon Van Etten & Joji

Listen to the episode here.

Howdy and welcome to the first official episode of Music According to Sanderson. It is I, Sanderson and I have been on the grind listening to a bunch of new music. I take my listening very seriously. I’m talking uninterrupted, earbuds in, first to last track listening. 

As promised, we’ll start with Sharon Van Etten’s “We’ve Been Going About This All Wrong.” The first version was released on May 6th of this year, but the deluxe version came out this month. It has four extra songs. 

So our girl Sharon is 41, she’s from New Jersey, and her music is officially classified as alternative or indie. It’s on the darker side of both genres, meaning it’s pretty synth-driven, has some heavy drums, and has lyrics that don’t make a whole lot of sense unless you’re paying really close attention. She started opening for The National in 2010 and came to work with Aaron Dessner after that. You might know Aaron from his collaborations with Taylor Swift. He sings on Coney Island from her evermore album. He also plays some instruments on the Long Pond Sessions documentary on Disney+ about the making of folklore. He’s the guy in his forties with scraggly hair. 

Back to the album. I really liked it. I don’t believe in giving numerical ratings to art because I think 1) music is incredibly subjective and 2) It’s too limiting to give a set rating. I’d never want someone to avoid listening to something because I happened to give it a 2/10 or something. Also, how I feel about certain songs varies based on my mood, setting, and relationship status if we’re being honest. So I don’t want to put her music in a box. 

But I liked this album a lot. It’s relatively mellow, but walks the line between background music and something you need to actively listen to. It’s like that movie you love but that makes you so emotional that you have to be in the right mood to watch it. 

I think this would be a great album to listen to if you’re tired of songs about love. She does talk about relationships in some of the songs, but again, if you don’t have the lyrics in front of you, it’s not always obvious what she’s singing about. The album is tastefully angsty and musically diverse. She plays a ton of the instruments in addition to singing. She does keyboard, guitar, drums, synthesizer, tambourine, piano and organ. 

I am adamant that every album should be listened to in order. The artist spent a lot of time deciding the order of songs and I think we should respect that. Listening to something on shuffle destroys it in my opinion. It completely changes the context of the music. But this album especially should be listened to in order. She really artfully chooses the order of the tracks so that it alternates from slow to faster and mixes the vibe up. There were a couple of times when I almost got bored, but then the next song switched things up and kept me hooked. So listen in order!

I also think that “We’ve Been Going About This All Wrong” epitomizes what’s so fun about the alternative music genre. It pushes you out of your comfort zone in ways that pop music might not. If you get used to listening to the same kind of music, or even the exact same song, over and over, your brain gets used to it. But our brains have an incredible capacity to change and grow. It’s called plasticity. And art is a wonderful way to expand and change your neural pathways. There are actual, physical connections between neurons in your brain that are strengthened every time you repeat a behavior or thought. In the same way, your brain creates new neural pathways when you experience something new. So listening to new kinds of music is powerful on a neurological level. 

“We’ve Been Going About This All Wrong” never quite goes where you think it’s going to go. Many of the verses don’t rhyme, for example. And I found myself automatically predicting where I thought the melodies were going to go, and then being totally wrong. Art is supposed to bring a certain level of discomfort. Michael Moore said, “The purpose of art actually is, in many cases, to make you feel quite uncomfortable. Or at least to go to that place that's already of discomfort inside of you and tap into that.” And the famous Banksy quote reads, “Art should comfort the disturbed and disturb the comfortable.” If you’re looking to get out of your comfort zone without really risking anything or expending much effort, this album is a great way to try that.

Now let’s get into the specific tracks. The album opens with “Darkness Fades,” which starts with soft acoustic guitar and even softer vocals. It’s so quiet and meditative that you can sometimes hear the sound of her lips touching at the end of words. But it builds steadily, introducing drums and synth. At the climax of the song, I picture the protagonist of a period drama running away from her love interest on horseback. It’s a bold choice for the opening track because it could just have easily concluded the album. 

Track six, Headspace, really grabbed my attention. It’s gritty with echoey drums. It’s essentially a sex song with breakup song vibes. Mom and dad, I’m sorry for saying the word sex on the internet. I’m still your little girl. And please forgive me when I say I think it’s my favorite song on the album. The refrain of “Baby don’t turn your back to me” has major screaming-in-the-car potential. It’s unexpected but fun. At one point there was a squeaky sound in the background that made me think my smoke alarm was going off. And I loved it. 

Track eight, Darkish, was a low point in my opinion. It was too stripped back for me but I’m fine with this album having one skip. 

Track ten, far away, highlights Sharon’s vocal ability. She has mastered the art of the vocal flip. If you’re not familiar with this term, it’s the transition from singing in your chest voice, the lower part of your range, to either a belt or falsetto. A lot of times, singers will switch from one part of their range to another in transitions, like between a verse and a chorus. But she switches in the middle of a lyric, which is deceptively hard to do as seamlessly as she does it. 

Track twelve, Porta, is another favorite of mine. It starts with some funky synth. The lyrics are about a stalker trying to, “rip her style.” Over and over she asks, “stay outta my life.” It reminds me of the Margaret Atwood quote from her book The Robber Bride. If you know what I’m talking about, you know how life-changing this quote is. It’s about how all female-identifying people are subconsciously catering to male fantasies. “Even you aren't catering to male fantasies is a male fantasy: pretending you're unseen, pretending you have a life of your own,” she wrote. There is so much truth to the idea that there’s always this internalized male gaze, watching and judging what you’re doing. That whether you realize it or not, it’s nearly impossible to have a self-concept that’s entirely your own. Sharon perfectly likens this feeling to being stalked by someone who’s trying to commandeer your identity. So track twelve is a must-listen. 

If you thought that was deep, wait until you hear about the final song: “When I Die.” It has awesome keyboard chords and absolutely haunting lyrics about how much she wants to do before her life ends. The final chorus is, “Yeah, I wanna remember/And I wanna do so much more/Yeah, I wanna be much better.” And then the album ends! What an epic punch in the gut. 

On that note, time for Joji’s new album. While conducting my preliminary research about Joji, I realized I knew nothing about him or his past. I don’t know if I’m clueless or it’s not well-known, but he’s done some weird stuff. He’s had a handful of viral songs like “slow dancing in the dark” from a few years ago and now “a glimpse of us.” But I’ve never heard mention of his artist persona before he became Joji. Again, maybe I’m just in the wrong circles but here’s what I found. He used to be a YouTuber and created a sketchy comedy series called The Filthy Frank show, where he played Filthy Frank. He stopped the show in 2017, citing serious health concerns. He then assumed the name “Pink Guy” and started creating satirical music. A #jojiisoverparty started trending in 2020 when some fans uncovered the offensive content in his album Pink Season, which includes 33 highly explicit songs. It wasn’t until later that he became Joji and started making serious lofi music.

That’s what brings us to his new album, which came out on November 4th, Smithereens. I’m aware that I’m stirring the pot when I say I didn’t care for it. I honestly found myself bored almost immediately. This is a problem I have with a lot of lofi or R&B lite music. There’s nothing wrong with lowkey instrumentals or simple lyrics on their own, but I find it’s not enjoyable to listen to both in the same song. I need either clever lyricism or interesting music. I can’t envision this album being good for studying or chilling ambiance either, because it’s too grating to be relaxing. 

I looked it up, and every sound apart from the singing is computer generated. The album has no musicians credited, just Joji and the people who mixed the audio. Maybe I knew this subconsciously and that’s what bugged me. 

There are two exceptions I’ve found. “Glimpse of Us,” which I’m sure you know unless you’ve never been on the internet, was a big hit on TikTok earlier this year. Videos using the song have 1.5 billion views as of now. Though I’m tired of hearing it over and over, the fact is that it is a good song. The chorus is pleasantly melodic and the lyrics are undeniably moving. If you don’t know, Glimpse of Us is about reminiscing about his ex in a new relationship. I feel awful for whatever girl he’s singing about. The girl who’ll never live up to his last relationship. “I try to fall for her touch but I’m thinking of the way it was,” he sings. “I’m only here passing time in her arms.” OW.

Anyway, the only other song on the album I could see myself willingly listening to a second time is BLAHBLAHBLAH demo. It has a catchy drum line and he’s not singing in the high part of his range that rubs me the wrong way. 

Respectfully, I don’t want to spend any more time on this one, so we’ll move on to the final album for this week. 

The last album we’ll look at is Cavetown’s worm food album. I had the pleasure of seeing him live at the Forum in LA when he opened for Bleachers and yes, he is as adorable as he seems online. Cavetown’s real name is Robbie, and he’s a British sweetheart, a cottagecore king and a lovely musician. I would like to have tea with him. 

My personal feelings aside, I loved his new album. I think he’s cracked the code of being mournful and sweet without making me cringe. He laments without being whiny and he writes lyrics so honestly that it hurts. “Worm food” has the perfect balance of upbeat and sad songs, and most of the tracks have really fun instrumental breaks. 

One of my favorite tracks is “frog” – please look at the album art, it’s adorable – and it’s about a princess kissing a frog from the frog’s perspective. Part of the chorus goes, “There's a curse that I'm under/I'll teach you how to swim/Two amphibian lovers.” Two amphibian lovers??? That’s so bizarre and cute! 

“A Kind Thing To Do” features Vic Fuentes from Pierce the Veil, and the collaboration is strange but works. It’s slightly jarring when Vic comes in the first time, because his voice is so harsh while Cavetown sounds like the human embodiment of a crocheted scarf. But they blend surprisingly nicely. Plus I get a kick out of the idea of them in the studio together. Their vibes couldn’t possibly be more different. 

“Fall in Love With a Girl” is another successful collaboration. He sings with beadadoobee, another favorite of mine. It’s the sweetest, softest song. Cavetown is encouraging his friend to love who she wants, and the verse is from beadadoobee’s perspective. It’s very touching. My favorite line is “The first time that you kiss, you smell lilacs on her lips/And when you need a little space/You know that she’ll understand.”

“Grey Space” is a great song, but Chloe Moriondo’s verse misses the mark for me. I don’t think she was a necessary addition or added much to the song. “Grey Space” is about being comfortable with being depressed. I think it successfully communicates a feeling that, from personal experience, is difficult to articulate. 

“Better” is the only song that made me tear up. It’s about Robbie’s struggles with mental health and self-harm. He says “everything feels better on the edge of a knife,” which cuts me to the core, somewhat unfortunate pun not intended. I want to give him a hug so bad. 

He writes too songs about his cat, “Juno” and “heart attack.” They’re both about how she motivates him to get out of bed on his bad days because it’s encouraging to have someone to take care of. He sings, ““I do it for Juno/Pretend her life is on the line/Manipulate myself into staying alivе,” so softly and matter-of-factly and it HURTS me. 

Overall, stunning album. Sad album. Sweet album. A must listen.

That wraps up this week’s episode. Thanks for giving me a listen and I hope to have you back in a couple of weeks when I do my first throwback favorites. It’s gonna be a blast.

Sanderson out.