Capping off a phenomenal year, bitbird is proud to showcase their second to last release of 2018 with New York-based producer underscores‘ debut on the label. With releases on Good Enuff, spirited., and Night Owl Collective, underscores has had an immensely productive past couple of years, while also remaining busy as part of his six impala collective. His debut on bitbird titled ‘about the kid that never left the house’ is a follow-up to his previous track called ‘about the kid that ran away‘, and they are two story-driven tracks where, in a rare instance, it is definitely worthwhile for listeners to know the backstory because the tracks are anecdotes in themselves.
While ‘about the kid that ran away’ is about “a kid that runs away and camps in the woods, the parents are freaking out and calling the kid’s phone multiple times, the kid starts to miss their parents, and at the end of the song the kid comes back,” underscores’ latest is a sequel to this event. The producer explains, “The parents become really protective of their kid and as a result, the kid isn’t really allowed to leave the house. in the string section toward the end, I imagined that while the parents are sleeping, the kid opens the front door and just stares outside, longing to go back out and play again or something like that.”
This feeling of loneliness and alienation from the outside world is meticulously portrayed in ‘about the kid that never left the house’. Samples from a motherly figure stating “I don’t want you playing with your friends” and “I don’t want you walking to the store” are contrasted by an awe-inspiring soundscape, depicting the confusion and seclusion experienced by the main character. Lively bass bounces around with a quirky synth section and one can only imagine the type of boredom the protagonist of this musical storyline is encountering as he imagines all the wonders that lay outside. The track is a fully fleshed out narrative that one could easily imagine coordinating a short film to, not to mention that it’s a brilliantly innovative standalone piece.
It’s uncommon for artists to mesh such an intricate story in a single track, yet underscores has done so flawlessly in ‘about the kid that never left the house’. Check it out below!
