Music Review // Nathan Coutts "Movie Star"

 

When this song by Nathan Coutts begins, there are these guitars which can sound somewhat dark.  It all moves at a steady pace, but there is also just this sort of broken quality about the way this sounds- as if you are listening to it on an old VHS tape and once it is done playing, the tape will destroy itself.  Though this is entirely electric, I believe, there are parts of it which make it sound acoustic as well and this gives it a bit of a lo-fi Radiohead feel.

At times this can feel hypnotic, but the ways that the guitars can wind through can just as easily feel chill.  The tone of the song itself feels rather personal, intimate in ways, which also seems to reflect the content of the lyrics.  Lines such as: "I never know / Wherever I go / If I was real or not" make it feel like we are in a movie.  I'll be the first to admit that I've been in that situation where you're doing something and your brain sort of shuts off and makes it feel like you're watching a movie rather than experiencing life first hand.

There is also lyrics within this song which say: "I didn't turn into a movie star / Wherever I go, strangers know more about who we are".  I feel like this is just such an interesting concept to think about in terms of how people can sometimes reveal too much online and though there was a time when people within small towns would gossip, now it feels like a lot of our information is just put out there for all to see and know about us via social media.

Overall there is something cinematic about this song.  It makes you feel like you're in a movie, diving deeper into the plot line as it goes on, running away from the enemy like Cary Grant with each passing note.  But there is also something in it about not wanting to feel like a movie star, avoiding fame and just overall feeling like you want what is personal to stay personal with you.  There is something to be respected in not wanting to share what you love with the world, but rather sort of keep it to yourself.