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 Love Letter To A Record 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.
Stefan, Snark – Ceres, Drag It Down On You (2016)
Dear Drag It Down On You,
You were an album that I first fell in love with, live. I will always remember the first time I heard ‘Laundry Echo’ live at the Poison City Weekender, the way that the song exploded out of the PA system and seemed to punch me right in the chest. The way that every note and every single lyric seemed like it was especially for me. As the set went on I became more and more entranced.
I was immediately hooked. On the train ride home, ears still ringing from the show, I gave the album my first full listen and it’s been an album that I have frequently come back to ever since.
The honesty and raw emotion in the lyrics of songs like ‘Roll Ur Eyes’ or ”91, Your House’ is captivating and I’m constantly in awe of how Ceres have managed to write something that is simultaneously so deeply personal to them but also somehow so relatable to anyone who listens to it. Tom Lanyon exorcises some demons on this album and gives you permission to do the same. It was a level of openness and vulnerability that really resonated with me and has forever changed the way I approach writing songs – when I need to feel brave enough to really put myself out there and “get out all the darkness” this is the record I keep coming back to.
Thank you for all the memories and all the inspiration (and happy 4th birthday for the other day)
Love always,
Stefan
–
