Many of us can link a certain album to pivotal moments in our lives. Whether it’s the first record you bought with your own money, the chord you first learnt to play on guitar, the song that soundtracked your first kiss, the album that got you those awkward and painful pubescent years or the one that set off light bulbs in your brain and inspired you to take a big leap of faith into the unknown – music is often the catalyst for change in our lives and can even help shape who we become.
In this series, Music Feeds asks artists to reflect on their relationship with music and share with us stories about the effect music has had on their lives.
Froyo – Empire Of The Sun, Walking On A Dream
Dear Walking On A Dream,
I know the expression love-at-first-listen gets thrown around a lot, but I’m just going to come out and say it. It was love-at-first-listen. I knew I wanted you on my iPhone 3G (for the rest of its life) the moment I laid ears on you. You may not remember, but I was hanging out with my high school friends in 2008, and there you were in the background of the room – your title track playing. I had to excuse myself from the current conversation because I was so captivated.
You were only a single at the time, but hey… so was I. You sang of escapism and love. Sure, your chords never changed, but the emotional dynamic and elevation from mellow verse to iconic chorus was so ear-catching – simply by switching from a lower register voice to that high falsetto you’ve come to be known for. It was only a matter of weeks before you came back into my life with ‘We Are The People’. It was at this point that I knew that this impending record was going to be something special.
When I finally had the chance to be with you in your full length LP glory, it was magic right from the get go. Tracks 1 to 4. My goodness. I honestly didn’t think I could be any more in love with a compact disc wrapped in a plastic case. And let me tell you… when I heard track 3… ‘Half Mast’ – the one I’ve listened to the most… I knew this was going to a forever thing.
‘Half Mast’ truly spoke to me. Again, much like your title track, your arrangement and structure were quite simple, but that transition from verse to chorus with your breathtakingly gorgeous falsetto sweeps me off my feet every time. Beyond the shiny surface and the wonderful melodies though, it was your lyrical matter on ‘Half Mast’ that I connected with most – echoing the sentimentality of love and escapism presented in your debut single, but with a more vivid picture of it all painted before me.
All relationships have its ups and downs though. And yes, I tend to skip tracks 5 to 9 when I’m on the go, but every time I reach your final track ‘Without You’, I’m brought back to the very reason I wanted to pay for you in cash at my local Sanity Music Store rather than LimeWire that shit. You were the dream, and I wanted to be there… walking… on you… while I don’t think that sounds as romantic as I want it to, please just go with it.
And sure, I’ve been with other outstanding albums in the past. The Killers’ Hot Fuss… Paul Simon’s Graceland… even Coldplay’s Viva La Vida the same year I met you (sorry). However, I want you to know and remember that you were the first full length Australian record in my life that I ever fell in love with. Not The Wiggles. You.
Always walking with you,
Michael from FROYO
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Froyo’s new EP Blue is out today. Watch the video for their latest single ‘Out There’, here.
