Modern Leisure has garnered the ability to hold the feeling of pure joy in his hands, bottle it, and infuse it into this track to the point of overflow. “you can count on me” is the newest single since his return to the stage in July of this year. For those not tapped into Modern Leisure yet, it’s the indie-pop project for Casey Baker, a Denver-based songwriter and DJ.
The pandemic brought live music near to its knees in 2020, and Casey used that time to embark on personal and business adventures, as well as exploring new sounds and continuing to write songs. Instead of letting the unexpectedness of 2020 halt Modern Leisure, he let it reshape and transform the sound and expectations for the project entirely.
A performance at Denver’s Hi-Dive in July officially started a new season for Modern Leisure, and “you can count on me” – released in early October – is but a taste of that. In the first few seconds of listening, I was reminded of The Beatles. The instrumentation in the intro is fun and flirty, holding a lovely melancholic undertone. Quickly, guitars crack through the quieter space and bring the small hairs on my body to attention. The melodies hit me in the chest like a sweet sucker punch, and the lyrics immediately bring up images of my closest loved one.
“you can count on me” opens up my heart in the most genuine and cathartic way. The haziness and honesty of the verses lead into these cinematic indie rock/shoegaze moments in the chorus, which feel like falling into an ocean of bliss and unwavering emotion.
Take a listen to “you can count on me” below.
Written by Newt Fangs
