Sing the Lyrics Almost Perfectly Out Loud

The Army, The Navy “BBIDGI”

The Army, The Navy are a folk duo with the same basic set up as Simon & Garfunkel – two singers, one guitar. The interesting thing with them, most especially on “BBIDGI,” is how their melodies and vocal harmonies are much closer in style and tone to mid 90s through mid 00s R&B than typical folk. It’s a little like if an R&B girl group did an unplugged record, right on down to the lyrics about being flummoxed by a very confusing sexual relationship. I hear this as like a reversed version of Lauryn Hill and D’Angelo’s classic “Nothing Even Matters,” which has a somewhat similar melody – instead of two people with such intense intimacy the world disappears around them, this is one woman trying to understand why her connection and intimacy with someone seems to come and go inexplicably. Even with the harmony vocal, she sounds so cut off and alone but so eager to get to where Hill and D’Angelo are in that song.

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