Music Review // Close Talker “Crooked Line”

 

When two genres of music come together to form a new one, it should be celebrated.   But what Close Talker has done on “Crooked Line” is take two genres that feel like polar opposites and brought them together in the creation of this song.   While this song can feel soft and mellow, like Silversun Pickups at times, it also has these lightning bass lines and chords which can just crash down like thunder. 

This music matches the mood of the lyrics as well.  The idea of the “Crooked Line” is the distance between two houses. This sets the stage for a feeling of estrangement, where one person is going back to another after a period of time (years, by the lyrics).   While this could be thought of as an ex-lover I also like to think of this as possibly being about a parent and child relationship, giving the song a “Cats In The Cradle” way about it. 

As intense and somber as this song can feel in the music itself, that can also be reflected by the vocals.   I’m reminded of All Get Out in the way that there can be this straight forward delivery of lyrics while also at times coming out like a whisper, or even at the end trailing off into that whisper-like state. 

Ultimately “Crooked Line” can feel like a song that is easy to listen to but is also a reminder of things perhaps either lost or forgotten.  Throughout our lives we sometimes inadvertently stop talking to people for weeks and those weeks can turn into years.   Close Talker really has a chill song here, but it should also serve as a reminder to call your loved ones more often.