Sometimes situations call for a total reassessment. Sometimes, 'having faith' and 'staying the course' become synonymous with getting yourself stuck in a big ol' rut. Even when your gut is screaming 'yo bro this ain't RIGHT my dude', you just dig your heels in and plough on. You know best, after all.
What really takes stones is being able to have a full and frank discussion with yourself, and admit that things just aren't working out. It's not you, it's you. Laying everything out on the table like this leaves you with a choice - do you shake hands (with yourself) and walk away, shrug it off and say 'oh well, at least we (I) tried?' Or, do you take a step back, tilting your head as though deep in thought like in the films, and take another look at the drawing board you were oh so sure you'd never be going back to?
True greatness doesn't come from pigheadedly assuming that your first choice was the best choice, but from constantly holding yourself accountable, challenging your own decisions, testing, questioning, experimenting. This isn't second-guessing yourself - you're purposely moving forward and making clear, measured decisions. But you're doing so in a way that is fluid, adaptive, responsive. Decisive skepticism. The kind of flexible thinking that allows you to crash and burn, only to emerge again, Rising from the Ashes. Ooh, swish with the segway there.
Sublab's ethereal trap masterpiece will no doubt remind you of the hard-hitting 'Loyal' featured last year, with the thwonking (new word) brass and pulsating 808, but there's an element of eeriness to this track that makes it stand out for me. The vocal slices are ever changing, adapting, evolving throughout the course of its lifespan, never settling on one idea and constantly exploring what the cinematic landscape has to offer.
It's a fresh element of composition in a world of copy+paste drops, requiring a calculated degree of consideration for melodic intricacy, and it sets itself apart because of it. It's a musical representation of this idea of being flexible in your thinking and your approach to the world, of never settling on just one concept and always moving forward to see what else might be discovered. Take your cues from music, that most primal of communication channels, and use that momentum to move yourself toward your goals. It'll be fine, don't worry.
If you've felt like you've been moving along a dead-end path, take this time to stop, take in your surroundings, and recalibrate. The direction you should be moving in might require you to go back the way you came, but that's not undoing your hard work. It's finding a way to make that work less hard to do in the first place.
So what are you waiting for my dudes? Make like a phoenix, and RISE! (not in a dirty way though, get your mind out the gutter you animals)
A Journey Like No Other: Himalaya by Ellipsis
The Music to Save The World playlist is sponsored this month by Himalaya from Ellipsis.
The journey begins; fresh Chillstep from Ellipsis to help you conquer your own mountain. Stream it now:
You can learn more about Sublab here:
About the curator - Andrew McCluskey
Matt Jenko is a university postgraduate and music producer with an unhealthy obsession with Rick & Morty and all things Game of Thrones. When he’s not in the studio (a rare occurrence these days), he’s fueling his passion for music either on the net or out in the real world. He likes being out in the nature (in the least strenuous capacity though, let’s be real here) and chilling with his cat, and he’s also pretty proud of his mammoth collection of books that he’s never read.
Checkout Matt's project Ellipsis on Spotify and Facebook
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