Single Saturdays: November 23, 2024

Single Saturdays is Five Cent Sound’s weekly roundup, where our staff members share a song that they’ve fallen in love with and make their case for why others should give it a listen.

“Hard Times” by Ethel Cain

By Emie McAthie

As the weather finally starts to turn and the world settles into a comforting silence, I find myself turning to music that reflects the desolate landscape I see outside my window. I’m not claiming it’s a good habit, but there is, undeniably, something inviting about listening to solemn and low tracks while the wind blows or snow falls. Maybe it’s my way of indulging in the desire to be in an angsty 2000s music video.

But as 2024 creeps closer to its end, I’ve found myself returning to the wails and heartache of Ethel Cain’s Preacher’s Daughter. Cain has undoubtedly seen a resurgence in popularity with the impending release of her new album, which I’m also eagerly anticipating. Not only is she a masterful lyricist, but she somehow manages to encapsulate the literal embodiment of agony in her music. Tracks like “Strangers,” “Ptolemaea,” and “A House in Nebraska,” have all received their fair and well-deserved share of attention, but one song that I deem highly underrated is “Hard Times.” 

The track, number six on the album, depicts the harrowing reckoning that Ethel Cain (the character) has with the abuse she faced from her father. Although the entirety of the album deals with trauma, the approach to this song was a bit different. Rather than building up to a climactic explosion, the whole song is slow, almost tired. The catatonic rhythm is reflected in the lyrics “I'm tired of you, too tired to leave (I just wanna sleep),” which Cain repeats in the outro. A steady drum beat holds our hand throughout the song, lulling us into a sense of security that is sharply broken by the sorrowful lyrics. We can’t help but feel that we are with Ethel as she tries to escape the knowledge of what her father has done.

Although I adore every second of the album, it’s disappointing to see the same few songs get praise. The care and level of detail that has gone into this piece of art deserves to be appreciated in full, and while I don’t normally say this, I think that this album is one that needs to be listened to in order and in its entirety. But at the very least, I hope that this song starts to receive the attention it has been sorely lacking.

“Break the Tension” by Maruja

By Elijah Mahoney

I generally like music that is heavier and has a lot going on in its production and instrumentation, and my enjoyment of it increases whenever I get angry and/or stressed. These emotions have been heightened as of late due to many things going on, so music like that of the English post-rock band Maruja has been helpful for me. I fell in love with Maruja from their debut EP Knocknarea released in March 2023, which hooked me in with the moody atmospheres and the chaotic arrangements they created that have become their signature sound. Of the band's discography, it’s their newest and heaviest track titled “Break the Tension” that I’ve been repeatedly going back to.

A pure mosher, “Break the Tension” features aggressive speak-singing vocals from frontman Harry Wilkinson over distorted guitars and noisy yet groovy drums interspersed with the band’s signature gloomy saxophone sections. The lyrics express the darker side of the human mind we don’t like to dwell on like feelings of vengeance and despair. They reflect on experiencing those emotions towards the world and how the feeling of having no power or control to stop any of it only makes those emotions worse. Wilkinson’s delivery becomes angrier and more intense as the lyrics and instrumentation mirrors that progression. That anger hits its peak as he shouts “Screaming for vengeance as spite starts to choke,” as every instrument frantically crescendos with him. 

The title refers to how one “can’t break the tension” of everything going on around them and that being where the dark feelings stem from. However, with this song Maruja creates an outlet for listeners who relate to it to actually do what the title says and let themselves go (at least for a few minutes). Many of us are angry at what the world has thrown at us without our say so having something to scream at the world with and help let those feelings out is comforting.

“Dr. Britt Baker” by Westside Gunn

By Rynn Dragomirov

Recently I’ve been really into watching fishtank content on Youtube, which has nothing to do with music except for one thing. All these creators who make self-sustaining tanks always say that the presence of good bacteria is a sign of a healthy tank ecosystem. Lately I’ve realized that Westside Gunn is to the musical ecosystem as biofilm is to some guy’s fish tank. Any time that man drops a solid album (which he almost always does), it’s like a sign that we’re in a year of good releases. Still Praying, which came out earlier this month, is my cherry on top for all the great drops this past year. “Dr. Britt Baker” in particular remains my favorite off the album. It’s fun, it’s spunky, it’s quintessentially Westside Gunn while still managing to feel completely new. I’m as big a fan of Gunn’s gritty beats as anyone else, but there’s something unmatched about his softer, more melodic side. This song feels like a grateful ode to his career– and those really smooth vocals from Brother Tom Sos make the complete package. 

“I said it seems like yesterday/ Hmm, time flies different on a private jet/ Already knew that I would make it here”

It’s songs like these that reaffirm Gunn’s #1 spot on my list of favorite rappers. As we approach  the end of the year, this song and Still Praying are only getting me more excited about what’s to come for hip-hop.I hope they do the same for you!

“Oh Noel” by I Dont Know How But They Found Me

By Olivia Lindquist

This year, October went by too fast. It didn’t feel like a typical fall with hot apple cider, pumpkin carving, and Halloween plans. Instead when Halloween came around, I was already in November. I am a firm believer in not listening to Christmas music until after Santa has passed in front of Macy’s on 34th street on Thanksgiving, but this year I broke that rule for myself. The semester flew by and with the weather suddenly dropping, I feel like Christmas is around the corner.

Christmas for me usually isn’t a happy holiday. I like all the traditions and decorations leading up to Christmas day, but it’s never felt anything less than melancholic for me. I never really had a reason to be sad. I spend every Christmas with my immediate family and sometimes we travel to spend it with my dad’s side, but I’m never present on Christmas morning when we’re opening gifts or finishing off the last of our cookie stash. I think part of it comes from growing up aware of my parents’ financial struggles and feeling guilty every year for how much they spent on gifts, even when the belief in Santa was still largely expected. Another part of it comes from knowing that there are so many people, even in just my neighborhood, that don’t have family to celebrate with or the money to spoil their kids one day out of the year. Something always feels like it’s missing every holiday season and no amount of gifts, cookies, peppermint mochas, or movies can seem to fix it. 

Of course when most Christmas music is cheery or at least upbeat, this inner conflict becomes more and more difficult to deal with. While there are sad Christmas songs:“Last Christmas” by Wham! and “Happy Xmas (War is Over)” by John Lennon come to mind, none of them have been able to capture this feeling of missing something during the holiday season as well as “Oh Noel” by I Dont Know How But They Found Me has. Dallon Weekes walks the listener through a slow ballad about a past Christmas love whose life has taken a turn for the worst. It holds that melancholic remembrance that I experience every year and right now it’s on repeat. If you’re like me and loathe the holiday season, this song is an incredible listen.