Sometimes a song brings up long-forgotten memories and emotions that the listener imprints onto it, regardless of the artist’s original intentions. Indeed, that’s one of the beautiful things about music, the ability for a song to be intensely personal to a thousand different people, in a thousand different ways. In the somewhat contradictory manner that life tends to favor, sometimes songs that are most personal to the artist, based on their actual memories, are the ones most easily internalized by the listener, as though the song is predisposed to latch onto the psyche of the nearest human. “Cane Trash”, by Brisbane, Australia’s People Mover, is one of those songs.
“Cane Trash” refers to the waste and ashes left over from sugar cane farming and production, something that reminds siblings Lu and Dan, plus drummer Bill, of home, and explores the tension and struggle between nostalgia and being present in the moment. At least that was the original intent; as Lu says, “Every song is set for me in Bundy or in Brisbane, and I hope that comes through.” The band, however, is fully aware of how a listener might be affected differently, noting, “I want the audience to create their own visuals in their minds when they hear these songs.” For me, having grown up in small-town Louisiana, a setting that might not be too different from small-town New South Wales (complete with sugar cane), the song brought me back to feelings of isolation and uncertainty. I never fit in with the stereotypes that populate these settings, yet I could never forget how others would assign those stereotypes to me anyway. It’s the kind of thing that makes one long to leave home and take a long time to find any pleasant nostalgia about the place. That an ostensibly happy-sounding, jangle-pop song can bring up such heavy emotion is undoubtedly a sign of gifted songwriting.
People Mover’s sound is, as mentioned, jangly, lo-fi, and completely authentic. Lu’s voice has an easygoing, conversational delivery somewhat reminiscent of Courtney Barnett, while musically, guitar, bass, and drums are locked tightly into classic 3-chord rhythms that propel the song forward. Lyrics like “I thought I might go home” and “I wasn’t supposed to be here anyway” deliver the aforementioned push-pull between wistfulness and being in the moment, with a sing-along quality that is the key that unlocks a personal connection for the listener. For fans of heartfelt, honest music like The Beths or Big Thief, People Mover is a great find. “Cane Trash”, which is the eponymous first single off their upcoming album, can be found on Bandcamp and most anywhere you listen to music.
Written by Dylan Steele
