Little Racer’s brand new EP, Foreign Tongues, is a four-song collection brimming with gleaming shades of rich melody. Released this past June 16th on PaperCup Music, the New York based band’s newest release combines gentle surf rock radiance with a muted, hazy undertow. Gathering on the rooftop of Brooklyn’s McCarren Hotel on June 11th, the morning of their first of three Northside Festival performances, the group effortlessly captured the luminous, soothing harmonies present on the Foreign Tongues track, “Dreamers.”
Sponsored by Jameson Irish Whiskey, the Pancakes and Whiskey live session shows the band awash in yellow sunlight, moving back and forth to an arrangement as cloudless and sun drenched as the sky above them. Although as iridescent as the accompanying music may be, Elliot Michaud’s lead vocal betrays the melancholy, disbelief and resignation experienced when an ex-love purposely looks away as his eyes try to find hers. Yet far from casting shadows, the somber sentiment at the song’s core reinforces it’s brighter elements, establishing a contrast that emphasizes it’s simple, intoxicating arrangement. When he sings, “I see a love, love so true/She’s dressed all in black, she’s dressed all in blue/But she won’t speak, baby’s got a brand new babe,” it’s with a slight detachment that gradually reveals the disappointment and longing of our narrator. Raising his voice to a yell, Michaud’s surging frustrations boil over as the last verse finds him pleading, “Well she used to be my girl/She ain’t mine no more,” even as the serene, dreamy melody repeats.
Video: Standard Production
Article: Caitlin Phillips
