A Sense Of Regret Which Feels Like Nothing New

Matthew Dear “Modafinil Blues”

Matthew Dear sings “Modafinil Blues” like a man who is extremely distressed but trying very hard to keep that feeling under the surface. His words are bleak yet oblique, suggesting some catastrophe is imminent or already underway. There’s a sense of grim inevitability in the music, like you’re caught in an undertow that felt like a gentle pull at first but is now dragging you down along with everything else around you. The most intriguing thing about this song is the way it falls into some ambiguous space between goth romanticism of sorrow and a far less sentimental depiction of grey, flat depression. It’s mostly erring on the side of the former, but the most resonant moments convey the latter.

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