Tuesday Tunes

I like when things are complete. By that I mean that I enjoy consuming a thing all at once. I waited until Breaking Bad was in it’s final episodes before I binged the entire series. I’ve waited for more than twenty years for winter to come in printed form. So I prefer these days, more often than not, to wait for a whole season to be out, or even for a series to completely end before jumping in. There’s a similar sort of phenomenon that makes me feel the same way about musicians …

The Song(s)
Song: Over You
Artist: Cashew Chemists
Album: Cashew Chemists - 2013 - Self Published
Method of discovery: Spotify Discover circa 2018

Theory: In pop music, chords tend to stick to their function, e.g. Fours and Fives tend to be Major, threes and sixes tend to be minor. That’s why in Roman Numerals chords theory they are written in capitals for Major and in lower case for minors. This song pulls a couple of interesting chords, the Verses cycle around I-iii-vi-V-IV-iv-I, and the Chorus cycles through ii-V-iii-VI-ii-V. See what they did there? They changed the Major IV to a minor iv, and pulled the reverse on the usually minor vi. This is what makes the chorus stand out to the ear, whether you notice it or not.

Research: Cashew Chemists draw heavily on the Beatles for influence on this album, which was unsurprising given the groove of this song. But what did surprise me was to find out they hail from Singapore. The band was named after Cashew Road, where most of the members grew up and where they made their music. The band split around 2017 and started pursuing their own interests.

Personal thoughts: I’m not suggesting that these guys will never jam together, but I’d bet that if they did it would be as something new. Cashew Chemists, for all intents and purposes, has finished. I really don’t mean this in a bad way, either. I love it. There are so many artists in the world that keep creating, and dear god I don’t want that to stop, but I like happening upon these little self contained bubbles that will likely just stay there, undisturbed, ready to be happened upon by new fans who were too late to be part of the crowd. I like going through their whole catalog (which you should also listen to) and I enjoy the idea of these little bubbles, not being perfect, but being pristine in capturing something that was, and will likely never again be.

Give it a go: If you enjoy the Beatles, or bubbles

Give it a miss: If you don’t even like Cashews

[links]
Spotify: Tuesday Tunes, Over You by Cashew Chemists
Other: Facebook, Soundcloud, Interview, Singapore Government Website