The Blue Submarine
Sunday, thank you so much. You are so necessary. A little slower than Saturday, and you’re all the better for it. During Summer time you feel perfect at the beach, or the park, or the brunch, whatever it is, you know exactly how to treat a person. I worked so many of your days, and now I’m lucky enough to know you, and all of your promise. And even when I did work on your day, I made sure to be of service to those enjoying all of your splendor. Your mornings are my favorite. They exist in stillness over here. They are calm, and hopeful and everything I need right on time.
Welcome back to Sunday Morning Records. I hope you’re enjoying your weekend. Break up albums take all shapes and expressions and we love them. You can’t throw a rock in a record shop without hitting a break up album or an album with at least one break up song. Actually don’t throw rocks in record shops at all. When The Pawn… by Fiona Apple is one of my favorite break up albums ever. I’ve used it several times since I discovered it, and have even wanted to write about it here, but it is not for Sunday mornings. I wrote about Give Up by the Postal Service back in March. Now think a little closer and imagine a breakup with someone you’re in a band with. Okay now we’re talking Fleetwood Mac, No Doubt, The Fugees, Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros, and The White Stripes to name a few whose music I love. While not all of these have made songs about their breakups together, quite a few did. Don’t Speak, Ex-Girlfriend, Landslide, We’re Going to Be Friends all hold a space in my breakup past where they were played incessantly. Bands who manage to make one or more albums after these breakups have a special mystique to them. They give mature love energy. I’ve always looked up to them and thought that’s how breakups should go. You know, like you break up with someone, and then you create some art with them. You put all that human muck and love and memories, and you make sure the people who shared so much with each other, and still work, somehow. A bit naive I admit, and it’s never worked out that way for me, but what if, right? But people messy though.
It’s been just shy of a decade since I had my last one of those, and I can’t imagine going through it now. The thought of that sadness and confusion makes me a bit queasy. Nevermind the thought of dating again, I’m not trying to be that awkward ever again. But none of that means I can’t enjoy a good break up song. If your music is good and appropriate for the moment, then I can still listen and remember and feel. It’s a bit more hopeful when you can feel, look back from the other side and know that you can survive heartbreak.
The beaches are open and the sun is out, so let's take this breakup outside. Summer is also about discovering the new Summer album. The one playing everywhere. A couple of years ago Bad Bunny’s Un Verano Sin Ti, was that beach album. Press play to listen to 84 minutes of beach ready songs. That’s not the first time I heard The Marias, but Otro Atardecer is probably the first time they stuck with me. The Marias are lead vocalist María Zardoya, drummer/producer Josh Conway, guitarist Jesse Perlman, and keyboardist Edward James. Zardoya and Conway were together for a long time and now they’re not and they made an album about it, and that album, Submarine, is amazing! They openly talk about their break up and making the album on NPR, and there’s a great article on Variety if you want to get deeper in their process.
I’ve been listening to Submarine for a few weeks now, and I had no idea what the story behind it was. I listened to the album a bunch and didn’t pick up on the message, because it’s a great chill vibe and just feels right. It feels breezy and a bit psychedelic pop. I don’t get in cars often but imagine this to be a great cruising album. Zardoya’s voice is smooth and collected and doesn’t overwhelm the songs. Sometimes her voice is up front, but there are these great songs where her voice just rides the beats and instruments, never really overtaking them, but there are times where the rest of the music serves her. I got their regular record, but there’s a version with a liquid cover you should check out. Time to get into the album.
Side A
1. ride
A quintessential introduction track. A minute and twenty-one of a great sound and a distorted voice introducing the album. It’s short, fun and quirky. I’m in
2. hamptons
Generally the only time you think about the Hamptons is during the Summer. This song has a great upbeat track that’s funky and smooth and the voice now is delivered through a filter that smooths it out even more to ride this beat like surfboard. Or rather, how I imagine riding a surfboard would feel like. You can easily listen to this and not pay much attention to the lyrics, but if you go there, you’re going to find a love that’s deep and on the brink of disaster. Maybe not told in such a hyperbolic way. Instead painting a picture of Summers in the Hamptons where things feel a little right and a little wrong, ending with the chorus “I'm a little bit in love”.
3. echo
Now we’re in solid breakup territory. A bit of an earworm, this is more of a pop, a little R&B with a dash of synths kinda vibe. I could hear this song play hard in the 90’s with a chorus like this:
“This is over dramatic
Headed back from New York
‘Cause we both know that this situation’s out of control
Now I’m caught in the middle
Breaking down on the floor
‘Cause we both know that this situation’s out of control”
4. run your mouth
You know a title like run your mouth is all about breaking up. It also has a pop vibe, feeling a bit more Dua Lipa realm, with a funky disco bassline that reminds me of Niles Rogers on Get Lucky. This is dance music right here.
5. real life
This is a hammock song right here. A lazy beach song. A cool out with a spliff song. It has a bit of a bossa nova taste. It’s a really sweet sounding goodbye. It talks about the good and the dream of things remaining good but real life just crashing in and filling you with a resolve you haven’t fully grasped yet.
6. blur
This song keeps that same dreamy vibe, but maybe a little less hammock and more slow bounce with a hell of a crescendo. This song has a bit of a neo-soul feel to it.
7. paranoia
I can really feel some 2000’s borrowing from the 80’s and 90’s going on here. I hear so many influences, but this song works uniquely how it is. Breakup feelings span many genre.
Side B
8. lejos de ti
Which translates to “far from you” is the first Spanish song in the album. I got to know them in Spanish and this album is really my first exploration into their English side. This song feels cool and dreamy as well, but the Spanish adds something, and the chorus has a different urgency to it. The chorus translates to “Just cause I’m far from you, don’t forget about me”. It really goes well with the Buscabulla album I wrote about in May.
9. love you anyway
The title gives it away. It’s a sweet sentiment. This one has a bit of an R&B feel too. The bassline reminds me of Waterfalls by TLC.
10. ay no puedo
“I just can’t” is the second Spanish song here and it feels more like a bossa nova. It feels like what you want to dance to at night, on a deck, at a seaside resort.
11. no one noticed
This one has a bedroom pop jazzy feel. The rake on the drum and the short electric guitar solos just chills everything else out. The vocals are so dreamy and calm as they make a desperate plea to keep the relationship alive. It’s the fear of separation from the familiar that I sense here. The message is very relatable, and the vehicle used to give it to us is just superb.
12. vicious sensitive robot
This might be the best title on the album. It says so much about a person. I can’t wait until I have the opportunity to call someone a vicious sensitive robot. Despite the name of the song, this one is more about the process of healing. Actually more like self medicating when you’re deep in the pits of it all. I think most of us know what that’s like. I bet most of us would love to forget some of those times.
13. if only
This is a definite change in sound now. This is a soft piano and soft saxophone ballad. Reminds me a bit of Tactics by Japanese Breakfast. It feels like something that honestly could’ve come from the 1920’s or any time between then and now. The voice is doing a lot of the heavy lifting here and making it all seem so easy, but filled with so much sorrow. I feel the sorrow really deep in my bones here.
14. sienna
Listening to sienna’s lyrics is what got me to do some research on the band and the meaning behind the song. At first listen I thought sienna could be someone they lost, but when I looked it up, I learned sienna is who could’ve been if they worked out. That’s where my mind has gone through break ups. What could have been if this or that went a different way. These are thoughts that have driven me to the brink of madness. This sadness is a bold way to end an album. They say this is only part one, and there will be a follow up to this album very soon, but whoa what gut punch. Definitely left me wanting more.
As you can tell by all the words I wrote, I highly recommend Submarine by The Marias. A break up album for a chill out situation, and I promise that if you don’t want to focus on breakups, you can just let this album wash over you. This is my first 2024 album on Sunday Morning Records, and it’s an instant classic. Hope you enjoyed it as well. Have a great week, see you next time.
