Now/It's: A Single Premiere - "Orpheus" (feat. Bantug) by Jonie
Seeing as tax season is around the corner (or it’s already here? I’ve never understood the nebulous nature of “tax season” but I digress), it only seems fitting to feature a single exploring anxieties and the myriad manifestations they can take in one’s life. By the way, if you haven’t now would be a great time to take care of your taxes (!!!). Anyway….
Considering life is one long, drawn out process of self-discovery, “Orpheus,” the latest single from our friend Jonie featuring another friend of the site, Bantug, provides a nice framework for the process of eventual acceptance that not everything is in one’s control, and the sooner it’s realized, the better. It might seem like a simple sentiment, but as many a worry wart has come to learn (or possibly not), that’s easier said than done. And not every moment is going to be salvaged, thus the aforementioned realization of one’s own lack of control.
While the lyrical pathos in “Orpheus” is inviolable as ever for a Jonie song, the production on “Orpheus” really makes a move for the upper echelon of Nashville’s ever-burgeoning pop scene. Think chillwave meets neo-psychedelia with a healthy dose of dreamy surrealism. You’d be hard pressed to find an artist of similar ilk working to meld so many different subsets of the pop genre into one song. Pepper in the tasteful toplining from Bantug, and you have a nice back and forth of affirmative and dissenting viewpoints despite sharing the same lyrical melody lines. As Jonie progresses in his journey to meld as many subgenres of pop in Nashville, “Orpheus” is his finest work to date.
“Orpheus” may be one preceding letter off from name of the Laurence Fishbourne character from The Matrix, but Jonie’s version does not maintain the single-mindedness of The Matrix’s dream god. There is no “Choose the red pill or the blue pill,” in the world of “Orpheus.” Instead, “Orpheus” offers up a perspective of positive outlook and ultimate temperance in knowing that in the end, if there’s nothing else within your control, the one thing that is is one’s ability to embrace the process.
