Lunavela, aka New Zealand's Steve Mathieson, delivers something different with "I fall down." It's a song that feels feather-light and full-bodied, polished but deeply human. If Mathieson has only half a notion of what the song is about, what comes across is a sound of tumbling into something brighter. If falling is beautiful, this is what it sounds like.
Mathieson, best known as the former frontman for Collapsing Cities, fully indulges his indie-pop instincts here. "I fall down" begins with a slight, almost tentative rate, as if the hesitation in your steps before you fall down. Soon, layers of melodic textures, synth swells, and soft but insistent rhythms start to build and nudge the track ahead. It's dreamy without drifting too far away and emotionally resonant without beating you over the head. This is Lunavela at her most polished, demonstrating that the fall can be part of the flight.
Without making anything explicit, "I fall down" is the kind of song about resilience that doesn't shout or roar but whispers and hums until you believe it. That may be why Lunavela says it is his best work to date. There is a certain quiet conviction here, a faith in the music to express what words cannot wholly express. In an age glutted with ultra-produced manifestos and ideas-first singles, "I fall down" is satisfyingly fuzzy and, in every way, the better for it. It doesn't have to be understood to be perceived. And sometimes, that's a reminder that falling isn't the end but the beginning of something beautifully uncertain.
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