Under The Weather

Peter Sagars music as Homeshake has always reflected themes of isolation and loneliness, and his fifth album is no different. Written primarily in 2019 but appearing deep into the COVID-19 pandemic, its contents are relevant for the era but wouldve been more or less the same either way. Opening track Feel Better has a mellow vibe, cool keyboards, and a skeletal drum machine, as Sagars clear voice achingly intones feel better when its cold out. Other songs like Vacuum and Inaminit have a light synth-funk base, as Sagar calmly sings about not being able to leave the house. As on past albums, he plays around with vocal pitch-shifting on several tracks, bumping his voice up to a feminine register during some moments and acting out imaginary conversations during others. Little touches like this, as well as the pitch-altered chimes and the way the beats seem to melt at the end of Spend It, add a bit of levity to an album that couldve been overtly dour. Sagar writes downcast music, but he never seems like hes actually trying to make anyone feel bad, hes just honestly expressing how he feels. Lucas Nathan (aka Jerry Paper) mixed the album and helped give it more of an analog touch than previous Homeshake records. Its definitely not as rough and guitar-driven as the projects earlier, more indie rock-sounding efforts, but theres not as much digital polish as on 2019s Helium. It keeps up Homeshakes consistent track record of friendly yet bummed-out albums that are easy to listen to and enjoy if youre in a similar mind state as Sagar, yet theyre just strange and detailed enough to avoid being predictable. ~ Paul Simpson