52. Big Thief - “Pretty Things”

This jam is reminiscent of a horror movie. It has a fragile suspense to it, one that carries both a sultry and lascivious haze as well as a violent suppression, like a bound coil ready to snap or explode at any moment. You can imagine it playing as two bodies tangle in between the sheets, sweat glistening, rain falling outside, slight moans and heavy breathing filling the air. Only there’s no intimacy to it. It’s desperately trying to create the appearance of intimacy, but the harder it tries, the larger the fissure seems to grow between the two. Tenderness turns violent, and pleasure unravels into a painful awkwardness.

The listener no longer knows what is going on. Whether were listening to the thoughts of consensual brokenness or something else, something much darker. The hair on the back of your neck starts to rise and you’re caught between the whisper of something both beautiful and evil, like watching a tossed coin flicker and rotate as it passes through the air of a poorly-lit room, shadow and light intertwining in each moment.