Drown In My New Costume

Nilüfer Yanya “Method Actor”

I grew up in a time when post-Pixies loud/quiet/loud dynamics was a default for rock music, so that sort of shift typically feels more comfortable to me than jarring. I’m rarely surprised by this move, as you can usually feel the switch coming. This is not the case in “Method Actor,” a song I was fairly certain would linger in a moody groovy state because most modern music with this particular vibe tend to stay in that mode with only understated changes. Even having heard the song a few times over I’m still a little startled by the burst into distortion on the chorus, though I think it’s less about the abrasive texture and volume and more to do with how the guitar rhythm gets so violent and jagged relative to the tasteful and vaguely jazzy tone on the verses. In the context of the lyrics, I suppose it’s a musical manifestation of an actor snapping in and out of character, and drawing on their darkest memories in order to ground themselves in ugliness and pain.

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