Soul Bananas combines his unique mix of cultural influences to cook up a hopeful and nostalgic new single.
Soul Bananas is the passion project of Portuguese-born Martim Pocinho, a multi-instrumentalist who found himself drifting between countries growing up, resulting in him feeling a little outcast from society. By his own admission, he often found it difficult to integrate wherever he went, so threw himself into music at a young age in order to make sense of the world.
Here, he explores friendships of all kinds; some are short-lived and exciting, others ancient and complex. It's a subject close to most hearts, including mine. After I moved back from from University, I found myself lost in a deprived town that I didn't recognise or relate to. My friends kept me afloat - and my thoughts turned to them as Pocinho told me what 'My Good Friends' meant to him. In his own words, it's a song that "hopes important relationships will survive the turmoil of life", a sentiment I share.
Here's to all our good friends.
Straight off the bat, the time signature grabs me. You can either count it as three groups of three or two groups of three and one group of six. It's fun to listen to and has an off-kilter effect on the whole song. It leaves extra room for space, a concept that I believe isn't utilised enough in a lot of pop music. It's psychedelic and intriguing, with Pocinho's vocals stretching slightly, but never in a bad way. You can feel the passion in his voice, and it's pretty emotive.
There's an honest simplicity about the structure and the melody that I find refreshing and I think it really suits the innocent nature of the subject matter. He's talking about friends, childhood, love, all themes that take us back to simpler times. I suppose you could read them as complex topics as well, something Pocinho himself touches upon. In this way, the simple melodic patterns and structure contrasts with these more complicated notions. However you read into it, it seems to work.
The production being quite DIY, there's a rough-and-ready quality to this one. However, I enjoy it and doesn't take anything away from the overall message. There's a lead guitar line that echoes the vocal melody at times and some washy, distorted rhythm guitar that glues everything together. Instrumentally, nothing mind-boggling but it allows the listener to really focus on Soul Bananas' words and invest yourself emotionally in them. There's a nice folksy middle section where most of the instrumentation cuts out, and that injection of a more old-school folk sound makes sense when we look again at how the song is structured. Staying true to the Soul Bananas sound then, in its mashing together of various genres and cultural influences.
I was looking for something to critique properly but was coming up short. Anything I might pick up on if I was writing about another artist: some rhythmic inconsistencies, perhaps a lack of harmonic exploration, I can't honestly apply to this. To me, the point of the track is that it is raw and emotive, really just focusing on one thing and doing it well. Music can be like a restaurant. Sometimes you want a small menu, and for the chef to be able to do a few things really well. Too much choice and sometimes dishes can be undercooked. 'My Good Friends' is a medium rare steak - simple, tasty and with plenty of flavour once you cut into it.
As I listened, this track struck me as something that might help soundtrack a Judd Apatow film, with its coming-of-age themes and general innocence lending it an uplifting quality that I can imagine accompanying the end credits, reeling off names like Steve Carell, Leslie Mann, Paul Rudd, Seth Rogen, etc. Just a little thought.
Any directors reading this?
It's a great little mash of genres and a lovely sentiment. I enjoyed listening, so check it out here.
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