Should music melt into the background, becoming part of someone’s day-to-day activity by simple proxy, or should it try to capture and concern the listener with its story and with its message? There are great arguments for either, but me–I could care less. Music can become the soundtrack to my day or it could be something I ponder for days at a time. To me, if it’s good, it’s good, and I’ll love it unconditionally.
“Dimensions” by Something Simple is a great airy track. It makes me feel like I’m in a movie or should be walking down some lakeside dock in the rain, or watching frost melt from the exhaust of a subway. It’s sneaky and clever, never making its presence too known to you, and slipping it’s melody into your head long before you realize you’re listening to something. It is simple, but I don’t think that’s something to critique. It’s wonderfully simple, like a smile is wonderfully simple, or bird call is wonderfully simple. It exists to become apart of you, but not to be distracting. It’s really aesthetic and lovely. While the simplicity of the music works to great effect, I am left somewhat wanting as far as the lyrics go. The song is unique in an oversaturated “lofi-indie” market, which is, itself, an achievement; however, the lyrics fall flat in the face of what could otherwise be a beautiful soliloquy or a striking instrumental. There’s a lot that obviously went into the performance of this song–it’s not too often that you get blessed with a chord progression via ukulele–but the lyrics themselves are mundane and don’t add much to the experience. I love the chorus in the background, but I am left feeling that the lyrics need a facelift. Maybe a re-release could do the trick, with a more interwoven story. Or maybe I’m just not understanding the definition of Something Simple, and the purpose of the song is going over my head. Either way; instrumental is good and a nice vocal track could elevate this song to another level.
The band is new to the scene, which means we can probably expect plenty of more good releases. If you’re into any shred of lo-fi, we recommend you check them out. Their discography has plenty more room. For now, head over to Spotify and listen to their other songs: “Treehouse” and “Yesterday’s Gone”.
I like “Dimensions”, and I like Something Simple as a band. As I said, there’s something untouchable about a song done “simply”. It makes it unapologetic, and I think it’s worth the listen. Put it on during your commute. Or when your cooking. It’ll leave you doubly focused, for whatever reason.
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