57. George Clanton - “Wonder Gently”

George Clanton (fka Mirror Kisses) released one of my favourite albums of 2015. The dude finds a way to give chillness attitude, somehow making synths pierce the heart while simultaneously lullabying it toward bliss. It’s like smothering a child to sleep, only the child is your soul.

He has that chutzpah that I love in artists, where they set out to forge their own path, crafting it around their own vision, unconcerned with any form of convention or order. If he wants to start a song with a repetitive two and a half minute intro he’s going to do it, then he’s going to admit it was ridiculous while simultaneously telling you to write your own goddamn song (ie. “damn that was too long | maybe you can write your own song and listen to it all alone”).

It’s a decision that seems capricious at first, but there’s something beautiful about it, psychological even. It’s like he’s borrowing a page out of all the nauseating EDM that floods the hallways of middle schools across America and playing with that unavoidable sense of anticipation that builds through repetition. Only he’s not doing it for your enjoyment, or because he thinks it’s sick - he’s doing it because he can, because he wants to, because he can string you along while flipping you off and knows you’ll still enjoy it. It’s inescapable. It claws at you, teases you, and pulls you along until you are in fact wondering gently, then when that wonder reaches it’s climax the tin-like timidity explodes into full on raucous and electrifying synths that cascade over a pounding rhythm to inundate your ears. It’s like he’s finally shouting ‘fuck you’, prancing on stage, pressing each key with a middle finger as you bob along and insist that none of it is directed at you. Who knows if it is or not, and who cares, he’s strutting his stuff and it’s a beautiful thing to witness - creativity unchained with the chops to make it soar.