Incredible Thunder

Amy O “Canteen”

“Canteen” sounds cheerful but also a bit nervous, as though every beat and melodic turn in it is guided by a quiet ever-present anxiety. Amy O’s lyrics call back to childhood – the very first line is “elementary school was a breeze” – but that sentimental imagery is laced through a song that otherwise deals with some ill-defined relationship that’s both enticing and terrifying. She sings about how “love is a spider,” and she’s getting stuck in this person’s web, and while that metaphor isn’t exactly obscure, the way she uses it makes everything about having a body and emotions seem icky and alien. But it is kinda weird to just be passive, right? To just give yourself over to someone else’s whims, and not really know what to expect from moment to moment.

Buy it from Bandcamp.