A Flowing Indie-pop Rock Single from November Dog
A fresh single release from November Dog delivers a four-on-the-floor, pop-rock style with indie-pop-infused elements, creating spacious underbellies and a great cinematic backbone that boasts bits and pieces of emotional push and appeal, while still keeping things quite catchy and energetic.
I think that's probably one of my favorite aspects about the track as a whole. It's got this great energy, but it also has a sort of smooth and delicate flow to it, so it's colorful but emotional, high energy, but calm; it's all at the same time.
The hook and chorus are robust, and that's really where the four-on-the-floor semi-disco pop-rock style comes in, but it's coated with a flurry of watery guitars that are affected with chorus or tremolo, or possibly both.
This definitely helps build a little bit on the depth and layers of the song, and it has a warm sort of tonality to it.
During the chorus is the guitars are really vast. You can almost swim through them, and because they're not dry, you pay a lot of attention to the lyrics of the song.
The vocalist does a great job of keeping that energy level completely balanced throughout the entire song. During the verses, he has almost the same kind of energy as he does during the chorus, giving way to the instrumental side of things.
There's definitely a huge Sonic presence here, along with a lusciousness because of all the instrumentation.
The drummer really provides something special on this track. He lets the song breathe. During those verses where the guitars are more spacious, and things are a little bit calmer, the drumming is still doing the same kind of beat but with a lot less cymbal work.
You hear plenty of kick and snare, and this also gives you a little added space for the vocals.
During the course sections, the drumming sort of explodes into a bigger element, and all the hi-hats and cymbals come into play, which helps to drive.
There are sections of the song just after the chorus where the vocals and instruments follow each other and play this great hook, and the whole thing sort of engulfs you, but in a really good way.
It's cool to hear a song that's so full-bodied with tons of layers of texture and guitar tones shimmering through everywhere, but still be so incredibly danceable at the same time.
"Cake" was certainly a lot of fun and provided a lot of color to go along with some of the emotion and sentiment the song provides.
What I pick up from the track is that it's about being stuck somewhere. Wanting to escape something or get away from someone.
The lyrics are articulated in a really unique way where there is a picture that's painted, but it's up to certain elements of interpretation.
Meanwhile, the mood that the song creates for those lyrics is damn near perfect because you do have elements of intensity during those choruses that go back to the exhales of the verses once again.
The bass guitar has a great low end to it, but the mids are really what let you hear it better. That mid-range tone with the bass guitar enables you to hear all the fun stuff that it's doing. That bass guitar really adds a lot of color and flavor to the song, and you can hear a ton of different influences ranging from classic pop-rock and indie-pop to vintage '80s pop as well at times.
I suppose it depends on when you grew up and what kind of music you're used to listening to, but for me, I picked up on some '80s action for sure.
These guys are really able to give off a great indie aesthetic. Of course, as I mentioned earlier, it is blended in with other approaches and styles, but the expansive and cinematic element of the track is always held on to, and so you're able to follow along with those lyrics but also move your body with the song at the same time.
Plus, this is a track that's just riddled with great hooks all over the place. I miss a good indie-pop song with instrumental hooks as well as the vocal ones. This track provides plenty of that.
So, pop some headphones on because it's one of the best ways to listen to this track, and be ready to dance a little bit. This is a fun track, but it's got some depth to it.
Dive in and see how it affects you.
