CAVE CANEM
“Songs about girls, being sad and girls making you be sad.”
That about sums it up, if you look at this EP technically. But if you look at the emotive nature of this short and sweet acoustic three track it becomes something much more potent and even as a first release it creates in irreplaceable feeling of sadness and the clarity that comes with heartbreak. The first two lines of this EP are:
“All this time last winter the weather was like you Unpredictable and cold but at least that's the truth”
For me this is such an iconic line from such an unknown artist, it feels like it is a line from one of the classic love ballads. the song itself has a slight crywank emo vibe to it. Cave Canem is one to watch , for such an unknown artist this is a huge EP and one of the most engaging we have seen here at Kegger in a long time.
Track one: Weather
Weather is the longest track on this Ep at 4:29, This track sets the mood for the next two tracks , you get the sense that this song as written in the mid-winter depression so many of us find ourselves affected by. The theme of entrapment makes this relatively happy and light sounding acoustic odyssey juxtaposition between the lyrics and the sound and makes the song much more striking. the lyric that really hit me when I first listened to this was:
“All the calls, they never helped look after me They gave me Stockholm syndrome and I'm under house arrest”
It sums up perfectly the sensation of being trapped by ones attachment to someone who is no longer such a huge part of your life and the hole they leave behind. Some people may think that songs about love have really been played out and that the quantity of pop songs about such matters has diluted the market. Then someone like Cave Canem comes along and blows these out of the water. This track is probably my favourite , but that doesn't mean that the next two songs are bust. Just wait.
Track Two: Focus
True to its name, this track has a less floaty feel than Weather. There is a more focused feeling to this song that seems to derive from anger. Where as the first track was forlorn this song is angsty and angry. This for me represents the stages of grief when a relationship breaks down. The guitar takes less of the focus from this track and the singing takes the forefront. The backing vocals echo the lyrics with more emotion embed in them, which for me represents the happy face you turn to your friends and the angry or more vulnerable side that is how you truly feel.
“Here's that feeling The one that hits me like a brick from both fucking sides This head trauma returns all too well How can I possibly focus when all I think of is you?”
These are the opening lyrics to Focus . immediately , like the character in the song you are blindsided by the complete understanding of his mental state and the empathetic way that you react to the lyrics. Much the same as the feeling that hits you like a brick from “both fucking sides”. This track is the second longest, clocking in at 3:07.
Track Three: Pictures
This song is the shortest, but you know what they say, quality not quantity. This is by far the most relaxing song on this idyllic EP , it has a more complex finger picking vibe to it and it shows that the rest of the tracks were more simplistic in that respect out of choice and artistic creativity rather than
a lack of ability. This song fits the theme of the EP but it is more melancholy than the other tracks, again fitting with the themes of grieving a relationship in my mind.
“The pictures on my walls Not a waste of head space They're a reflection of everything I am And that's everything to me But I'm nothing to you”
These lyrics stood out amongst the countless others that were also written beautifully. The juxtaposing between the everything and the nothing creates such vivid emotive imagery its like the situation outlined in the song happened to you. This song is one i can easily see becoming a cult classic, the way you mention crywank to someone at a party and find out they know them and then bond over your mutual love of sad acoustic goodness. Overall this EP gets a strong 7 out of 10 kegs with a pint on the side. listen to it and see for yourself.
