Sound Doctrine » Didirri

Didirri – Jude

Aug

posted by tommy

There was a time when the local blogs were plenty. There was a time when Pedestrian.tv could run a music blog prize and have over 15 entrants, all of them strong. Even then, there were good blogs un-nominated. It felt like blog culture might never go away because music fans wanted new music and who better to deliver it to them than those who could write and listen well both. What that booming blog culture didn’t seem to foresee however, was that among the sheer quantity of new songs released weekly, punters would eventually decide that they didn’t really have time to see that music qualified. They would eventually decide that they wanted the audio without the commentary.

So readerships lessened, blogs faded back and playlists boomed. Algorithms put songs into ears quicker than scroll-heavy mp3 sharers could and they did it semi-successfully without any of the copy. I’m being incredibly reductive of course and there are plenty of reasons blogs lost their stronghold but that was among them. So when once the street was walled with stalls labelled ‘All I Do Is Listen’ or ‘East To West’, it’s now marked mostly by multi-storied ‘digital publications’ which all seem to have “Music” in their name. A few of the windows still show signs of life inside but the sphere aint what it once was. It’s these thoughts that bid me keep this one open. Every year, my domain name and hosting fees come around for renewal and I delay payment as long as I can, thinking that perhaps this is the year I save myself a cool hundo and let the lights go off for the last time. But I can’t. I like writing about music but sometimes it’s also good to write about music. Sometimes you just want to single out a song more intentionally than through a playlist and maybe you’ll see them profit. What else can I offer? Words are my coin. And though the readership is limited and the effect is small, I’m gonna keep writing about songs like this one from Didirri, songs that strike home with emotional resonance.

It’s the second from the Warnamambool-now-Melbourne ‘folk dandy’ (his words) and in my earlier, holier-than-though days, I might’ve turned up my nose and something so melodic and beautiful. But I’ll tell you friends, I’ve had a bunch of children and I’ve gone soft as brie. This song nails me with it’s lowhearted lyrics (touch on family and I’m levelled) and the chorus melody. When that chorus comes back for the second time and the vocal thickens with company there are hints of lowkey Smashing Pumpkins songs like ‘To Sheila’ or ‘Disarm’. But let’s say what we’re here to say, there’s also a big bag of Robin Pecknold in the vox, innthere? The way the chorus takes an extra two bars to hit is going to confuse festival punters, ruining their singalongs but it’s also another fruit of Didirri’s creative instincts. Sometimes it’s the technical or experimental that pique my ears but sometimes it’s just a record with some real-ass feelings, you know?

‘Blind You‘ was got me on the structure but ‘Jude’ gets me in the gut. Feelings and family and all that. The good stuff.

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