Aoun – Shears (2024)
While Aoun’s discography is limited to a few songs starting with ‘Kangaroos’ in 2023, at least according to Spotify, the band is filled with decades of experience in the music industry. Combining the talents of singer-songwriter Aoun (vocals and guitar), Guillermo Goldschmied (bass), Eli Flower (drums), Sean Brennan (cello) and Tree Palmedo (trumpet), the US-based group is obscure, diverse and entirely unique. This is my introduction to Aoun, but the eclecticism of their singles ‘Kangaroo’ and ‘Smoker’s Cough (Afterword)’ assures me I’m in for an intriguing musical journey. Would you join me as I jump into their critically acclaimed discography?
Tapping into various flavours of folk, Aoun’s repertoire showcases the diversity of the genre from heart-breaking acoustic to upbeat joviality – all with the steady charm of the toe-tapping, tender style. Following the well-received ‘Smoker’s Cough (Afterword)’, Aoun’s new single ‘Shears’ plunges into a darker folk-rock sound but with the thready sliver of indie-folk fluttering along the melody.
Aoun explains that ‘Shears’ was “split into two parts and those two parts were written separately (lyrically speaking)…”; however, it is not only the profoundness of the emotional lyricism capturing the heart of the track but the instrumentation as well. If you fancy a steady folk tone, then, by all means, enjoy the first half. If you fancy a heavier rock tone, then take a gander at the second half. For me, however, the fall-away of one style to the other weaves an epic melody as a tribute to the emotional rollercoaster of broken relationships. Interestingly, these separate tones complement and collide in ‘Shears’ tearing your heart apart but bringing a soothing sense of loss to heal it. Aoun explains:
“’Shears’ is a song written during the last legs of a relationship when the relationship sits on its deathbed just waiting for that plug to be pulled, and the self-reflection you go through in that moment. One was written in those final self-reflective moments during the relationship and the second half was written right after it had ended.”
A kaleidoscopic tapestry of powerful guitars with crashing drums and an interspersed flit of trumpets and a cello, ‘Shears’ delicately seeks clarity in its intricate web of melodic confusion. I love it!
For more from Aoun, check out their Instagram and Spotify.
This artist was discovered via Musosoup #sustainablecurator
Listen to more folk-rock tunes on The Other Side Reviews Folk Rock playlist:
