05.21.2014 — “You Are a Metaphor” by The Capsules

The Capsules

If you only listen to one song today, make it “You Are a Metaphor” by The Capsules(2014, from the album The Long Goodbye).

The Capsules are a synth/shoegaze/dream pop trio who are originally from Kansas, but presently working out of Dallas. Starting with Reverser in 2002, they have five albums including a brand new one called The Long Goodbye, which came out yesterday via Saint Marie Records.

I had never heard of this band until a few months ago, when the Saint Marie team started promoting this new album pretty heavily. I’ve been slowly but surely becoming acquainted with the album and trying to figure out what it reminds me of. I kept getting caught up on the vocals of Julie Shields. Her voice reminds me of some sort of mixture of Beth Sorrentino from Suddenly Tammy and Delores O’Riordan from The Cranberries. But the band’s music doesn’t sound anything like either of those bands. At least not on the new album.

I keep reading that The Capsules are often compared to a wide range of seminal bands such as Blonde Redhead, Cocteau Twins and My Bloody Valentine. Frankly, I don’t get that. At all. At least not on the new album. I still haven’t heard the older albums. I also read that they’re compared to M83, Phantogram, and Metric. Finally, when I read that thing about Metric, I got it. This new album reminds me of the Toronto indie scene. Not exactly like Metric. Not exactly like Stars, but it sounds like something that would have come out of the ashes of the BSS collective in about 2010.

Anyway, this is a good album, and every time I’ve listened to it, I’ve been alarmed by how quickly the 58 minutes zip by. If I’m not careful, I get that sensation that I’m not even listening to an album. I don’t mean to suggest that it fades into the background like the music in the supermarket or the doctor’s office. It’s more like getting completely wrapped in a cocoon by it and I’m not even aware of the passage of time. And then the album ends and I come to the realization that an hour has passed.

Anyway, this is one of my favorite songs on the album.

“You Are a Metaphor” by The Capsules

It’s really comforting. Soothing. It’s a little bit dense, and lighter than air at the same time. It’s what I imagine floating through the nighttime sky would be like. Maybe in a blimp. Just a little bit removed from the world.

You can buy a physical copy of The Long Goodbye from the Saint Marie web shop here, or you can get a digital copy via bandcamp.