Without an audience can there ever be bombast?
With its jittery, almost video-game-like sounds, Chelou’s ‘Halfway to Nowhere’ immediately draws comparisons to Alt-J. Unlike many of Alt-J’s songs, however, this one is constrained, it doesn’t necessarily build to lofty heights or grand breaks. It’s inward-looking, wondering how long it will be before people pay attention. The sparse electronic production slides along beside the dragging guitar as Chelou grapples with his seeming insignificance. It is perhaps because Chelou sees himself as “halfway to nowhere” and “nothing today” that there is no reach for bombast. Without an audience can there even be bombast? If no one hears the singer screaming or the bass dropping or the song reaching a high, does it even happen?
Note: It’s pissing me off that I can’t figure out which Alt-J song it sounds like. Is it Breezeblocks, without the heft?
