Nakedly vulnerable “Ingloria,” a new song from simplemachine

I’m pretty sure I’m not alone when I say there have been moments in musical history when I’ve heard a new band and thought, “Whoa, where the hell did these guys come from?” Not to date myself, but I’ve had that head-exploding sensation with my first listens to Elvis Costello, The Clash, REM, Amy Winehouse, and a handful of other wholly original artists.

It may feel like hyperbole to include the group simplemachine in that exalted company, especially based on hearing just two songs and watching their companion videos. But it doesn’t feel like premature praise to me. It feels more like welcoming a band coming into its own and on the verge of creating an extraordinary body of work.

Their song/video “Ingloria” was released on March 1^st, and if you care about music that’s well-crafted, creatively performed, and tremendously poignant and mysterious, it’s a must-see-and-listen.  The music is mostly hushed and haunting, and guitarist David Tyo’s supple vocals deliver bassist/pianist John Durden’s lyrics with both emotional power and nuance. Coupled with the video (filmed mostly in black-and-white) featuring Durden as a tortured soul (he personifies the song’s anguish, anger, and madness in a fierce performance), the song succeeds as a portrayal of a man blindsided by crippling depression and struggling to explain his unexplainable pain.

The music is beautiful and deserves repeated listening. The lyrics are poetic and, like most good modern poems, they defy easy interpretation. But listen closely: “I tried to move a mountain/it feels insane/but crazy is my outlet” and “I’ve only come to sail away/and find another kind of pain to/release me from myself.” The exposed feelings are so nakedly vulnerable the listener can’t help but be captivated by the singer’s desperate plea to be understood.

You might think that a song about severe existential suffering is, by definition, depressing. And not to shout out a spoiler alert, but there is a PSA at the beginning and end of the video with the number for the Suicide and Crisis Hotline.  However, listening to “Ingloria,” I didn’t feel complete despair or hopelessness. It’s raw, and it’ll jolt your sensibilities, but somehow it plays more like a hymn than a dirge. And hymns are about celebrations (even dark celebrations) of the human desire to comprehend this baffling world and to be at peace with our own place in it. Tough to capture in a three-and-a-half-minute song. But these guys nail it.

One final note:  simplemachine’s earlier release, “Unbroken (I Remember Everything),” displays the group’s versatility. It’s a fast-paced, word-packed rampage of a song, and yes, the lyrics still contain elements of anger, sadness, and bitterness. But strangely enough, it comes off as a funny, playful song, a perfect showcase for Tyo’s impressive vocal range (which pivots effortlessly “from a whisper to a scream” to again reference Elvis Costello). The video comes at the viewer in a hurricane of quick-cut images, and once again, the camera shows it loves Durden, who this time, mugs and hams and romps his way through the piece. Much, much different than “Ingloria” in mood and tempo, but equally listenable. 

“Ingloria in everything.” Do yourself a favor and give simplemachine a listen.