Depression, Mom – Once in California (2022)
There are times when you know you should leave a relationship, but you still feel desperate to make it work. This particular moment has been taken by Depression, Mom and transformed into their single ‘Once in California’. Inspired by the music of the 1960s, the single uses a catchy movement to bring the feelings of the moment to life.
While balancing wanting to leave and wanting to make a relationship work, the band injects a lesson into the single as you learn to let go. Max Church and Luke Sperber are the duo behind the music and have been creating music together since meeting on the first day of college at Washington University. While this single draws on some old-school sounds, the duo strives to bend genres and mould their music to suit the emotions of their songs.
‘Once in California’ grabs your attention with the vocals from the first moment. The lyrics draw you into the slow death of a relationship and all the problems that the couple seems to be facing. There is a touch of questioning who is at fault which is tempered with the urge to make the relationship work. The vocals are packed with conflicting emotions which have very masterfully been balanced. At times, the vocals have you filled with the urge to make things work only to drop into a questioning of why you have to be the one putting in the work. This flows into a subtle understanding that maybe you have to let go of the relationship. It is a heady combination of emotions that are extremely relatable as they merge and diverge with the flow of moods and thoughts.
While the lyrics draw you into the emotions of the track, the melody is something else entirely. There is a stripped-back feeling to the opening as you are hooked with a single strummed line. The wooden beats that enter add an earthy feeling to the soundscape. This is all washed away by a serious shoegaze vibe on the chorus that has a heavy hit of retro vibes. The music on the chorus makes you think of flower power tracks from the 60s that fill your sense with flowery meadows. The dreamy edge that comes at these times has a nostalgic feeling that enhances the vocals that question if the other person is thinking of you.
Depression, Mom drop you into the moment when you realise you need to leave a relationship but want to make it work through the retro vibes of ‘Once in California’. The vocals move through emotions with a relatable flow picking at insecurities and learning lessons along the way. The music journeys from stripped-back and earthy to lush 60s tones.
Find out more about Depression, Mom on their Instagram and Spotify.
