Phosphorescent - "The Mermaid Parade". This song didn't ache until Ben told me some more about it, told me that Amanda is the name of Matthew Houck's ex-wife. And Matthew Houck is Phosphorescent, so when he sings that word, Amanda, he is singing to her. He sings it carefully and happily and sadly and brokenly. He sings it because he has lots of things to say. Too much, sometimes, to fit in a rhyme. I know all about your new man / your new older old man, he sings. Oh you be careful Amanda. But the clinching line is this: I found a new friend too / and yeah she's pretty and small / goddammit Amanda, goddammit all. A song which felt like the performance of country music suddenly becomes just country music, a torn heart sewn onto a sleeve. But not tearfully.

Update: Ben advises me that I misunderstood him. Amanda is probably not Matthew Houck's ex-wife, but rather the song's narrator's ex-wife. This is a hilarious mistake. I am trying to figure out if it makes the song better or worse.

[buy / thanks ben!]

Creep - "Days ft. Romy Madley Croft (Deadboy remix)". The xx's Romy Madley Croft sings her disquiet over Deadboy's ghost clatter. She is true, she promises; she longs for no one else. But whereas the original track seems sympathetic, with beats & buzzes rended by the same distress, Deadboy almost seems to doubt her. His remix gallops over Madley Croft's murmuring, pushes and chops at it. The synth-line is murder-mystery noir, there's whispering in the corners. Her sincerity is just catchy enough to be complicit. [more Deadboy/Creep/the xx]

(photo source)