Just a picture of a pretty face with lonely eyes and a made-up grace…
Andy Cook’s dreamy new indie rock song “Swirl” is both a cautious warning and a heartfelt reminder to embrace life in our hyper-digital age.
— —
The odd thing about social media is that it’s deceptively real, but ultimately just like everything else in the world: Temporal and transient. As Andy Cook shares in his dreamy, hypnotizing new single “Swirl,” we invest so much time and energy creating our digital likeness that we sometimes forget to develop ourselves.
You say you only live once, and you can’t miss out
You gotta be someone, you can’t live without
The story’s never ending, the drawing’s not done
Tell me what you’re thinking, is it really that fun
Listen: “Swirl” – Andy Cook
[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/409503633?secret_token=s-WPfpr” params=”color=ff5500&auto_play=true&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false” width=”100%” height=”166″ iframe=”true” /]Atwood Magazine is proud to be premiering “Swirl,” the lead single off Andy Cook’s forthcoming EP Modern Man (out 4/13/2018 via Good Eye Records). An Americana-leaning indie rocker similar in sound to Lord Huron, Real Estate and Alvvays, Minneapolis-based Andy Cook plays with fire and doesn’t mind the burn. He takes on harder questions if modern life, addressing the purpose and place of social media in society through spot-on metaphors and critical observations of human behavior.
We’re living in a wicked world,
nobody believes anything they’ve heard
Just a picture of a pretty face
with lonely eyes and a made-up grace
In the eyes of an image
just a boy and a girl
Looking lost in the swirl
“‘Swirl’ is an exploration of life in our hyper-digital age, being stuck trying to give other people everything they want while also trying figure out who we really are in the first place,” Andy Cook tells Atwood Magazine. “Sure it sounds bleak, but there’s a hint of optimism in there too.” Yet as thoroughly pointed as “Swirl” claims to be, Andy Cook is incredibly easy to listen to: There’s a dreamy element to his washed-out, reverb-laden guitars and the way he lets his voice stay level with the surrounding instrumentation. He may at times be hard to hear as a result of this tactic, but in letting everyone shine together, we come to better appreciate the rattle of the lead guitar and the tight grip of the drums, forever pushing the song forward.
You can get completely whisked away by Andy Cook, without realizing the intensity of his words. There’s a magic to that delirium.
You say you only live once, and you can’t miss out
Until it drives us crazy, and all we do is shout
Who cares about the ending, don’t want to die in doubt
Tell me what you’re thinking, is it never or now
You can spend a lifetime lost in the swirl – waiting for that page to load, both literally and metaphorically. Yet as we lose ourselves in Cook’s dramatic tones and upbeat flavors, we’re reminded to keep our heads up and appreciate what we have. Ultimately, “Swirl” is both a cautious warning and a heartfelt reminder to embrace life in our hyper-digital age.
Modern Man is out April 13, 2018 and is the fifth release from Good Eye Records. Stream Andy Cook’s “Swirl” exclusively on Atwood Magazine!
— — — —
Connect to Andy Cook on
Facebook, Twitter, Instagram
Discover new music on Atwood Magazine
? © Mariah Crabb
