Sink into The House
Aaron Maine, the individual behind Porches, released his third album under the pseudonym. The House follows 2016s Pool, carrying the similar theme of water with it. The album carries emotion like a wave, ebbing and flowing from one track to the next. Maine has a way of taking his time elongating his lyrics. Any one of his songs could have been cut in half timing wise if his vocal pacing were quicker. This causes the fourteen track album to be surprisingly short, tapping out at 37 minutes.
The synth chords in the opening track, “Leave The House” make a perfect underbelly for a dance track–if the timing were faster. Maine keeps his vocals more or less horizontal here and throughout the album. (Sandy) Alex G lends his vocals to the song’s outro, which has a nice rumbling effect. This bleeds well into the following track, “Find Me.” The ‘90s dance instrumental is perfect for the club, but the lyrics define every introvert’s dream: “Think I’ll go somewhere else / Where I can sink into myself.” In an interview on Sirius XM’s XMU channel, Maine claimed the song was about the anxiety attacks he experienced.
The musician has previously said he often writes poetry, and some of those become songs. With nothing but simple guitar chords and a drum-kit beat, “Now The Water” is a song that lends itself to poetics. Maya Laner sings a distant harmony that adds another layer of emotion to the track, making it one of the subtle gems on the album. “By My Side” moves slowly despite electronic elements in opposition. The song is about fighting with a partner and the language used, but says more about identity than anything else. Verse two cuts deep with the lyrics, “I will call you by your name, if you call me by mine / It is good to know ourselves, because most of the time / I have no idea / Who I see in the mirror.”
“Anymore” is a return to bedroom dance instrumentalization. The lyrics are sung with a subtle dose of autotune, but they take a backseat this time to the beats. This equation is reversed on “Goodbye” — the synths and beat grow, and are not fully formed until midway through the song. The lyrics swim back to poetry here, “Into a light that I once knew / I swam deep and thought of you / I like the thought you think of me / It’s softer as I start to sink / The trees were sex, an orange sky / It is so sad to say goodbye.”
The longest song stretches just under four and a half minutes long. The instrumental is ominous, and almost sounds like a processed squeak of a swing. The minor chords hover over the track and the squeak is just subtle enough to keep listeners from skipping over it. The album concludes with “Anything U Want.” It reprises lyrics from “W Longing,” “Tell me what you wanna hear, I want you to hear it.” One drawn out note is the key instrumental, and Maine’s vocals stretch the three verse song to two and a half minutes.
Overall, The House reads like a diary entry and plays like a rainy day spent inside. The album flows well, never leaving listeners with too much of the same.
Leave a Comment