Did You Call It With A Coin In The Air?

Felix “Don’t Look Back (It’s Too Sad)”

This is a song about how when a relationship fails, everyone close to it comes up with a narrative to explain it away. Lucinda Chua sings this song with a calm and composed affect, but you can hear a peevish tone creep in as she object to her ex’s mother’s ridiculous claim that “women are all cruel,” and she dismisses them both for not knowing what love is. (“Anyone who knows what love is will understand.”) The final verse, in which she attempts to offer her own defense, is the one that stings. “I know that I am not one to talk / as from time to time I am really hard work,” she admits, her voice getting thinner as she becomes more vulnerable. She insists that she didn’t keep him “under duress” or “pressured and stressed,” and then trails off, as if she’s wondering if, well, maybe she actually kinda did.

I reviewed Felix’s new album Oh Holy Molar at Pitchfork.

Buy it from Amazon.