opossom - getaway tonight
today in our biannual pacific island music feature, we have this complex but infectious synth-pop offering from a trio lead by auckland, NZ’s kody nielson. the tune is most notable for its diverse use of tonal colors (electronically afflicted vocals paired with a twisted keyboard), frequent syncopation, a rhythmic pattern closely related to drum and bass beats, and an explosive chorus capped by a bombastically defiant minor chord set in a major key. oh and the bass line. you’re not going to be able to ignore or forget the bass line — it features prominently throughout, especially in the chorus, when it buoyantly ascends in opposition to the descending vocal line, succeeding in terms of both melodic intrigue and timbral richness.
there’s no legitimate reason this shouldn’t make its way onto the radio and find appreciation from the masses, especially considering the recent adoration found by two door cinema club, metronomy, and phoenix, all non-american groups with upbeat tracks and heavy bass presence, but even if not, opossom will surely find themselves a niche within the circles of those who pursue psychedelic pop and progressive indie pop music. one potential issue i foresee is that half of the internet is spelling their name wrong, ‘opossum,’ but hopefully more people will check the spelling displayed within this video and correct those mistakes before it winds up becoming a santorum-esque google problem, minus the whole ‘deliberately existing in opposition to their stated policies’ thing. still wouldn’t want it to hold them back though.
