The more music I listen to, especially material which was recorded recently, the more I realize how difficult it is for artists to nail that stripped down yet still satisfying sound. While songs are difficult to craft, no matter their complexity, I find that being able to craft a song which is simple yet still feels full is the most challenging thing to pull off. Thankfully, with “Go,” by Hiver, we have a fine example of how to pull off this feat in the modern music landscape. By carefully laying the track out, allowing it to slowly unfurl and add instruments bit by bit, the song very quickly adds up to something very special.
Speaking on what I was referring to in the introduction of this review, the second the song begins all we hear is an electric guitar with some sort of delay effect on it. While the lead picking of the guitar is what pulls us in, the delay fills out the space, preventing the song from feeling stale. The vocal melody is pretty straight forward, but fits in with the instrumentation pretty well. After the first verse of the song finishes, there is an instrumental section which throws some harmonics on top of the already looping guitar pattern. When the hook of the song comes up, things strip down even further, removing that guitar pattern in favor of a more bassy sound. Once the track moves on to the second verse, which is lyrically a repeat of the first, everything fills out even more with drums and bass entering the mix.
Keeping with the song’s simplistic nature, the lyrical content can be seen as pretty barebones. While the track is structured as your standard verse, chorus, verse, chorus, it is notable that both verses share the same lyrics. In a way, this repeating nature of the sections of the song almost give it a hypnotic quality and allow you to zone in more on the melody and instrumentation. That being said, the song seems to be about someone trying to get over another person, “I can’t seem to find out why / And it’s not easy to see / It wasn’t me, but when you left me / Hidden in the seam / Now leave me with my dream.” While the lyrics are clearly being sung by somebody in pain, it is also obvious that they are trying their best to move on and make sure the other person fully leaves their life.
With the song in full swing, things continue to liven up after the second hook plays out. In a sort of jam section, the cymbals of a drum kit wail and the soundstage fills up with noise. Almost as if representing a final burst of energy, the song builds and builds until it suddenly drops back down to a sole acoustic guitar. With one last chord, the song ends. Hopefully at this point of the track you get a sense of what I was talking about in my introduction. While seemingly simple, the song has much to offer in its composition and performance.
