Layer Cake’s new single, Numb, is, in many ways, an archetypal indie-rock tune. The vocal delivery keeps us away from the 2010s just enough to feel up-to-the-minute modern, and the production veers just shy of too sweet. Fans of Maya Hawke, Lucy Dacus, and sunny drives (both cold and warm) will find this a welcome addition to their playlists. And, dare I say, there’s even a hint of emo—but not so much that a staunchly former Warped Tour attendee is not driven away.
The jangly not-exactly-overdriven lead guitar brings you into the sort of drum groove that could play for thirteen minutes, and I would be utterly unbothered. The multiple guitars, acoustic, double electric, keep out of each other’s way just enough to give the groove plenty of variety, nice, mature playing.
There’s a roominess to the overall production, especially the vocals, you can almost imagine the living room that feels like it was tracked in—whether or not that’s literally how it happened, it serves the song well. It’s homey and fun, even though there’s a little sadness here.
Why do I feel so jaded, I hate it,
Why do I feel like I’ve been in this place before?
A song about trying to hang on, about the wish for earnestness. Maybe it’s just the wait-is-that-a-banjo guitar, but God, remember when all of music seemed to be upbeat and hopeful for all of ten minutes?
Sure, a lot of that music sucked, and the Obama era, for all its upswings culturally, is as marked by a ramp-up of drone strikes as much as anything, but there’s something about the open-heartedness of it that I miss. The willingness to just say that you’re in love, or that you want to be. We didn’t have to fucking wink at everything. If that’s not exactly what Layer Cake is going for here, I don’t know, music is a mirror as much as it is anything.
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Written by Willow Stonebeck
