Baby's Arms + Jesus Fever;
These two
songs have become a couple of my favourites on the album. Baby's
Arms was the first track I listened to by Kurt Vile,
which led to me to listening to the album, Smoke Ring For My Halo, and
then to Jesus Fever. Both songs are relatively different in
style, Baby's Arms is quieter, more solitary, led by
the plucking of his guitar and little additions of percussion, where he sings
how he would "never ever, ever be alone, 'cause it's all in my baby's
hands". This hushed tone is consistent through the album, a kind of
lonesome melancholia that follows throughout. However, although this element
underlines the album, Jesus Fever, which follows Baby's
Arms, is more upbeat, with fewer technicalities in
his guitar playing and feels much less melancholy due to the overall atmosphere
of the track.
As much
as Jesus Fever feels much less melancholy from the use
of instrumentation and overall setup of the piece, the lyrics provide a
different atmosphere: "I started shakin' and my heart breaking / and my
belly crawls / the Jesus fever is falling all over you", "when I'm a
ghost, I see no reason to run / when I'm already gone / if it wasn't taped, you
could escape this song / but I'm already gone". Where others may
drown out their lyrics with the instrumentation and melodies of their music, Vile doesn't,
he puts his lyrics and voice at the forefront of his music clearly making this
the most important part, where his vocal melodies are individual and only occasionally
imitated throughout the rest of the band, such as in Jesus Fever,
and using the music that is written and played behind the text (mostly) as an
accompaniment. Although his may be a factor, he does leave space for the music
to develop with instrumental sections where the band can jam and explore these
melodies and musical ideas.
Baby's
Arms and Jesus Fever are
just two of the tracks from Smoke Ring
For My Halo and however different in style, lead into the one another and the
rest of the album perfectly. They make you want to stay to hear the rest of what
Vile has to say. “When I’m drinkin’ I get to joke and / and I’m
laughing, falling down / but that’s just fine and I just pick myself up / and
walk down ghost town.”
Baby's Arms;
Jesus Fever;
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