It's an excellent pop track on its own, it came with an album announcement, and its message is welcome as I work through internal matters.
It's milestone day on the Senior Year Soundtrack: entry number 200! It's hard for me to believe I'm somewhat rounding the corner on this project. Of course, in no way, shape, or form am I planning to stop using this space once I graduate — this is only the beginning, and I look forward to dedicating some more time to other music-based writing endeavors in this space in a couple months' time. For now, though, it's business as usual.
Having focused my musical attention yesterday on 1) getting started on a couple midterms and 2) finally finding a song that had been eluding me based on its opening chords, I neglected to make the weekly rounds of new music I like to do on Fridays. Thankfully, it was worth the wait, with new releases from Rex Orange County (featuring Tyler, the Creator) and Florence + The Machine among the highlights. However, I was most drawn to Sigrid's new release, "It Gets Dark." I had been waiting for the Norwegian synthpop talent to announce a new album after having released two singles last year and a collaboration weeks into the new year (which got an update last week), and she did so in conjunction with this uplifting spacey pop rocker that makes me look forward to her future releases even more.
I didn't go into listening to "It Gets Dark" with any real sonic expectations... but I certainly wasn't expecting borderline space rock that fits such an atmosphere better than most of Coldplay's Music of the Spheres ("Coloratura" aside). The reverberating piano, synth, and string layers combine to create a sense of physical expanse characteristic that's bang-on for the 'space' vibe of so-called space rock. Add on slightly propulsive a lyrics about feeling high and having "never, ever been this far away from home," and the hypnotic spacey atmosphere becomes increasingly tangible.
Another aspect of the song that definitely helps with that floating feeling is the augmented chord Sigrid uses in the verses. I use the word "augment" and its various tenses a lot in this space, but when it comes to chords, "augmented" has a typical meaning: a three-note chord built using two major thirds. It's a sound not found in major or natural minor modes, so it can feel foreign or disembodied in a popular music context. This feeling comes in part from the chord being symmetrical, a property it gains from stacking the same interval on top of itself. Symmetrical chords can work in a wide variety of keys, so when they are played, they create some tension because we (at least subconsciously) await its resolution, which can make the key center and the passage's direction much clearer.
The placement of the augmented chord (which you could call multiple names based on its content and context; I'll go with C+/G#) after the tonic C Major allows for a very smooth transition — just one note (G) is elevated by a semitone (G-sharp). I could definitely feel that slight lift on multiple levels on my very first listen because of the upward move and the moment's lack of direction, though my musical experience — and Sigrid's foreshadowing with her vocal melody hitting and landing on the next chord's root — did lead me to correctly anticipate a further lift of the G-sharp to A, creating A minor and bringing the song back into the context of the key of C. The following chord, A-flat Major, leading back to the start of the verse progression is definitely not as directional, but between the space rock leanings already being established and the expectation for a four-chord progression in popular music, I expected it.
The verse progression gives way to another similar albeit more directional one used for the other sections, increasing the directionality as the chorus draws near and is reached. This is also when Andreas Lund's contributions on guitar and bass are introduced, and holy cow, do I get Jonny Buckland feelings when I hear his guitar tone and note selection. His forward bass in the chorus fills up much of the space the dense verse and pre-chorus had created, while also solidifying the general pop feeling of the track alongside the punchy drums. Importantly, though, the choruses don't really sound like 'releases.' With how grand the verses are in instrumental scope, having a chorus that ramps up that feeling right away wouldn't make for as engaging a listen. When the big release finally does arrive after the second chorus, complete with a guitar solo, it's as satisfying as it is because what came before it made the payoff of finally reaching it that much greater.
The chorus and post-chorus combine to bring home the song's message as embodied by its title line: "It gets dark so I can see the stars." As I run headfirst into a concoction of exams and personal anxieties, it's hard to look upward or beyond the stressors of the present moment. The thing is, it's not bad to do so — in fact, it often helps to (positively) think ahead to the good that comes out of the trials and lessons you learn in key moments. My future is far from certain, but the opportunities that await me on the other side of my exams and my classes make me eager to work through everything I currently face. Those possibilities are the stars I see in the chorus' figurative darkness.
Man, it's nice to be optimistic occasionally, and it's nice to have music that furthers those feelings. With everything it has to offer on a purely musical level as well as my personal sonic leanings and current attitude, "It Gets Dark" is a track that I have a feeling I'll have on repeat for a while, especially leading into Sigrid's release of How to Let Go... a week before I graduate. Holy cow. (Don't worry, still positive here — just a little taken aback at how soon it all is... in a good way... I think.)
Postscript — a realization: I figured out just after posting this piece what Coldplay track "It Gets Dark" reminds me of the most. Through its instrumentation, it strikes me as a poppier, updated version of "All I Can Think About Is You," an under-appreciated track from Coldplay's 2017 Kaleidoscope EP. Now I'm curious as to whether other listeners draw the same comparison...