Roy Blair’s “Kansas” dissects the commonplace depiction of young ingenues professing their love in meadows, and brings the truthful reality of assuaging jadedness with physicality.
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In April of 2017, L.A native Roy Blair released his debut album Cat Heaven. The album explores the concept of immature love, or even the visceral feelings associated with it. While pre-released singles like “Thunder” and “Perfume,”talk about the loss of someone you put on a pedestal and the way lust feels like love, “Kansas” puts a cynical, yet honest spin on the album. In the past Blair had released a smaller EP of sorts entitled Sunsets exclusively on his SoundCloud account. He also has notedly performed backup vocals for Kevin Abstract on “American Boyfriend.”
Unlike Sunsets, Roy Blair drifts back to shore, and away from the ethereal ambience of quiet vocals and repetitive beats. Instead he lets his lyrics hit hard and hit home. In tracks like “Alex” where lines consist of “’Cause what do I got if I don’t got friends?, Do the same damn thing week in and weekend, Just so we can do it all again, I keep everything the same”. Blair references the banality, that the younger generation feels with everyday life, and the search for a sense of purpose. However, tracks like “Alex’ and “California” only scratch the surface of Blair’s sedated attitude and indifference with life, love, and existence. Meanwhile, “Kansas”, Cat Heaven’s 8th track, fully delves into Blair’s cognition.
Damn, I’m burning up
Everything I touch
Can’t let you get ahead
Watch it on my skin
I fumigate your web
Damn, I’m burning up
Everything I touch
Can’t let you get ahead
Watch it on my skin
I fumigate your web
Listen: “Kansas” – Roy Blair
Blair’s erotic lyrics, albeit succinct, deeply illustrate the setting. down to the condensation on the walls. He artfully begins with passion and lets the listener get involved. “Damn, I’m burning up, Everything I touch, Can’t let you get ahead, Watch it on my skin, I fumigate your web.” Not only is Blair talking about the heat and evocative feelings associated with sex, but also he already starts to allude to the claustrophobic nature of his feelings, i.e. “your web.” Blair intersperses vocal filters, and mild drums but mainly tries to isolate his vocals.
As the track progresses, it becomes abundantly clear of the dichotomy Blair is trying to present. On one hand, the sex and proximity of another person feels good, but on the other hand, does any of that matter when your insecurities and past grievances will inevitably cause it to fail.
Knew what I was getting into with you.
Why did I waste all your time?
Shit wasn’t love
and you know it was true.
Love burning, all night (yeah),
Got stains all on my jeans.
I wanna make you breathe.
Fuck you to blow off steam
Blair describes Cat Heaven as “forever coming of age.” Coming of age itself is a universal phenomenon that affects everyone. No matter who you are, your position, or any other factor, at some point, we all come of age in our own way. “Kansas” dissects the commonplace depiction of young ingenues professing their love in meadows, and brings the truthful reality of assuaging jadedness with physicality.
Every song on Cat Heaven, feels unique and meticulous in their depictions of all aspects of juvenile love. “Kansas” is the brutal bluntness that comes with understanding hollow affections, and the selfishness of sex. In comparison to other songs on the album, “Kansas” lets us exhale, and realize there’s accessibility in all of our relationships. Hopefully Roy Blair’s attitude and his impeccable ability to elicit feelings that we thought all too personal, will continue on in his work.
No excuse, I get it from you, you, you
But that’s no excuse, no excuse, for what I do, do, do
She said “I’m miserable” (shit, I am too)
Better give it my all, don’t throw it all up on the drywall
Will you pick up when I call?
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