Cinematic Endings (or catnaps) with Lady the Beard
In the latest release from Lady the Beard, Brooklyn-based musician Michael Beswetherick takes us back to our childhood bedroom with the dream pop track “Corporate Portraiture.” Of the three recently released tracks, this one feels the most complex, that is it feels like whatever inspired the song took the most time and emotional effort to untangle, work through, and get out in the open. What we’re left with is such a sweet release.
The track opens with a pleasant acoustic melody backed by synthy goodness, and we’re half expecting the end credits of an indie flick to start rolling. It’s cinematic, indeed. The breathy vocals come in and our own experience of the song truly begins. The lyrical trajectory is like falling into a light midday sleep when the sun hits the window above your twin-sized bed just right. The lyrics fade and the distortion kicks in and we’re immersed in this hazy siesta, not quite remembering how we fell asleep. Though most of the lyrics are indecipherable under the sleepy sonic texture, certain lines come through clear much like the few strange images we are able to comb out of our dreams upon waking. “Your mom’s at the mall,” floats throughout the three minute track, hearkening back to those suburban salad days most of us have a fondness for in retrospect. So do those three words we tell ourselves in the thick of things: “let it go.” But don’t worry, this isn’t a nod to Frozen, the song is quite the opposite in every way: it’s warm, sunny and airy.
If the song were in fact wrapping up an indie flick, you’re left to feel that the protagonist of said film is finally okay, or at least at peace with the resolution (or lack thereof). Whatever melancholia that once haunted the protagonist (or Michael? Or we the listeners?) and subtly pervades the song has evaporated. He or she can look back and give a sly smile to the omnipresent camera before that final fade to black.
