Holly Waxwing – “Vibe” (Stereogum Premiere)
“Vibe” has that inimitable quality that’s easy to try but hard to get right: It feels like it belongs in a nonexistent video game, meant to soundtrack adventurous jumps over a candy-coated sky. But between the plucky chirps, Holly Waxwing (real name Garrett Crosby) finds a decidedly human undercurrent, separate from the fantastical world he’s created. There’s anxiety here, in the way the pitter-pattering beat threatens to careen off course. And there’s elation, a sense of the unknown. Just like you can try to search for meaning in the “uh”’s and “um”’s of the pixie sprite voice that filter in and out of the track, “Vibe” is a song that you get more out of as you put more of yourself into it. Listen below.
Peach Winks EP is out 6/16 via Cascine.