We covered “These Little Things” from Carbon City Lights about a month ago, as the band started to release trickles of what their new album might sound like. While we still don’t know much about that album, we get another taste of the California indie group’s soothing sound on “Certain Things Matter”.
Showcasing Michael Venia’s smooth voice (falsetto included) over tight jazzy hooks, Carbon City Lights once again welcome us to their intimate space. Again, no massive musical moves or frills on this track; like on their previous singles, Venia and the band keep things moving at a relaxed pace, but one that leaves room for each element – the vocals, the guitars and bass, the drums – to pop with their own color.
Venia wrote “Certain Things Matter” about letting go of overwhelming things, and poetry weaves through the words to craft relatable but wonderful metaphors, such as “My chest is a crowded elevator, buttons lit up, and I can’t find my floor.” The chorus has Venia recognizing his limits as a human: “I can’t hold the whole sky in my small, small palms; only certain things matter.” It channels what we know of the theme of the upcoming album: Exploring the tension between being stuck in our minds and finding the clarity to let go.
For Venia, who weathered much loss throughout his upbringing in the Middle East, music has become a powerful force of coping and healing. And while neither of those truly end, “Certain Things Matter” sounds like a song from someone who’s come close to knowing what it means to heal. Take a listen below.
Written by Will Sisskind
