Now that the historic Hot Girl Summer has come to an end, I think it’s time to set aside the upbeat bangers that defined summer ‘19. The new Kyson track called “After the Rain” is a great place to start a new season of music, that is if you’re looking to have a moodier and more demented fall.
Kyson Could Be a Grimm Brother
The opening lines of “After the Rain” strike me as a dark take on a children’s book or a fairy tale.
After the rain comes a mind,
after the mind comes the blood,
after the blood comes the river.
After the sun comes a time,
after the time comes the wild,
after the wild came the liver,
and through the liver was the change…
The lyrical progression of rain, to blood, to river, to time, to wild, to liver, and then finally to change, parallels something you might find in a Dr. Seuss book. Though very poetic, these lines are very matter of fact. Kyson speaks earnestly without explanation of any kind. It’s extremely evocative writing on its own, and more so by the delivery. The frankness of Kyson’s voice deepens the mystery behind
The first minute of the song is pretty simple musically. There’s a choppy synth beat, and a distorted repetition of the words, “hold on.” I found this vocal sample to be the most interesting production element of the song. The sample carries through the rest of the song and makes up an integral element of the instrumentals. I can’t quite piece together what the words mean in context to the other lyrics, or why Kyson chose that phrase; however, the sound of the distortion adds a lot to the atmosphere. For a song that is thematically and sonically closer to folk, I think this was a very hip hop production move. If you took this backing track and turned the volume up on the instrumentals, sped things up a touch, and added some 808’s, you might have the beginnings of a great emo-rap song.
Aside from the potential rap influence in the production booth, the song takes a lot from electronic music. Kyson begins singing about twenty seconds in. An acoustic guitar grows in the mix while synths fade into the background. After he concludes the first verse, the electronics rush back in all at once. It almost sounds like a bass drop. At any rate, it was impressive how he built and released tension so subtly.
I think “After the Rain” is a folk song in essence, maybe even a folk-lore song. But production-wise, there’s much more going on than a typical acoustic guitar number. With stark and simple lyrics, clever use of sampling, and a few EDM tricks, I’d say this is an excellent fall song. Perfect for those of us who still aren’t over Midsommar, or maybe just for anyone who is ready for something a little more challenging than the typical summer bop.
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