Many Different Frames Of Mind

Avey Tare “The Musical”

“The Musical” is a song in which Avey Tare reflects on his life as a musician, with the emphasis placed on the act of creation and singing, but zooming out to consider his role as part of a band, and his relationship with an audience. It sounds more like he’s trying to understand his own life rather than explain it to someone else, like he’s hoping to reconnect with something innocent and pure in making music. The lyrics are fairly literal first person, but he’s mostly fixated on the ways music allows him to express things beyond words: “Do you know how it feels, and not what it means, this song?” The song itself is one of the most warm and melodic pieces of music he’s ever written, mostly built around a gorgeous bass line that conveys a serene vibe as it circles through the track. There’s also a guitar solo about two thirds of the way in that’s a surprise in how rarely such a thing comes up in Avey Tare or Animal Collective music, but makes total sense in how he channels Robert Fripp in its pinched electronic tone.

Buy it from Bandcamp.