Sunday Mix - Eskimeaux

"Soooooooo, this line-up is dank as eff,"(granted, Zula was about to play) I think these were the first words I heard Eskimeaux say on stage when she played a Walla Presents show a few months back. I'm not sure why I found it as funny as I did, I guess you had to be there? Still, thinking about it now, that's kind of what her music does too. She's able to say a simple thing that elicits an emotional response that you can dig up months later without even trying. 

Listening to Eskimeaux is really like mining tonal gems and lyrical gold from a rock face made entirely of tonal gems and lyrical gold. Hearing lines like, "Open up your hands and accept that this has ended, Nothing in this world is holier than friendship," on the back end of "Broken Necks" or, "In my dreams you're a bathtub running, You are warm and tender and bubbling, You are cold and bristling and struggling," on the song "Folly,"  you begin to realize every song Gabby Smith makes breathes this kind of sullen, understated purity. Completely honest and narrative, without being too into itself. That shouldn't suggest it's one dimensional. She actually makes music that, as far as I'm concerned, has something for whatever mood you're in. Does the sun feel good on your face? She's got a song for that. Feeling low? She's got a song for that! Wanna sleep under your bed? Song for that. Feel like watching dogs you don't own at a dog park? Song for that. The emotional quality of the music is so rich, that it just ends up working for everything, and it's hard to come by an artist that can pull that off. 

Having said all that, she's got a record coming out on Double Double Whammy soon.  If you haven't listened to her music, quit living in the dark. Peep this Sunday mix, it's dank as eff, you should listen. -Raz

TRACK LIST:

Tristeza   Empress Of

Lost in Space Bellows 

Will This Give Me Cancer or Not  Attic Abasement

New Song (live with ACRN)  Told Slant

Windows  Angel Olsen

Do I Wanna Wonder Forever  Frankie Cosmos

Drove Me Wild  Tegan and Sara

Before The World Was Big  Girlpool