powerline traps airplane is a self-titled side project of Michigan-based 3AM, released last month by Candlepin Records. This album leans away from 3AM’s emo-folk vibes and more towards slowcore and shoegaze. I found that the record itself played out like a series of vignettes, each exploring different themes. The lyrics are gentle and evocative, with just as much layered depth as the fuzzy guitars that permeate each track.
As I prepared to listen to this album, I wondered what on earth “powerlines trap airplanes” could possibly be about. It seemed almost playfully obtuse– how can the relatively fragile connective tissue of our electrical grid ensnare something as massive and weighty as a plane? As I listened, I started to realize that this was part of the point– the juxtaposition between weight and suspension; being stuck in transmission lines and wondering how to get down.
As the album kicks off, the title track compares airplanes and powerlines to woven macramé, the planes being captured like flies. “Their shadows / a sundial / tracing a path / of sadness / I don’t see / a way down”. Whether it’s the opiated warmth mentioned in never warm again, or the futility of killing time in live laugh dissociate, there is a sad aimlessness to these initial tracks that feels both comforting and disquieting.
Other songs like attic cigs and super scary spider feel like they represent a mood, a time or a place. Listening to the former, I found myself transported to the proverbial attic, watching sunbeams passing through the window and feeling the warmth pass into my headphones as I smoked a Marlboro 27. The latter track brings us to a dank, dark basement, the lyrics pondering why “sometimes it hurts to talk”, worrying about where spiders are as regrets consume us. Surprisingly, the chorus to super scary spider is sunny and bright, contrasting the somber tone of the rest of the track.
Physics I & II was one of my favorite tracks. A short piece that repeated lines about lift force, electrical power, and transmission lines– surprisingly catchy. It reminded me of being in physics class, half-listening to the teacher with one headphone in, trying to make meaning from dusty textbooks and staring restlessly out the window.
I think that is what powerline traps airplane does best– evokes a sense of helplessness and dull nostalgia that is also rich with meaning and musical depth. By the end of the album, I felt like I understood how an airplane could get trapped in powerlines. To me it was a reminder that sometimes life simply feels big, and heavy, and we yearn for things that are out of reach. We get stuck, but that’s okay– it’s part of the process of being human, and being alive.
To fans of slowcore, shoegaze, Midwestern nostalgia, and yes– even airplane physics– grab a tall mug of coffee and give powerlines trap airplanes a listen.
Written by Filip Zemcik
