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There are two things that come to mind when looking at a city skyline:
- The prosperity of urban development.
- The destitute inequality that it brings.
Local dream-pop outfit Angelica channels those disparate perspectives in “Downtown,” their new single getting its world premiere today.
The four-piece is made up of veteran Milwaukee artists who all seem to have multiple side projects keeping the cogs turning. But it’s evident that their skills as musicians and writers provide a foreboding perspective into what “the American city” is. It’s a cynical worldview toward markers of national pride that creates an eerie feeling of getting close to building something that might be best left unfinished.
The band’s Gosha Ananchev put it plainly: “When I was walking in downtown Seattle, I thought of how many cities wish they could be in its place. I thought of how people sleep on the streets right alongside multimillion-dollar developments they can’t afford to live in. But the song is not just about one city in particular — maybe more about Milwaukee and how we should be careful what we wish for.”
The group bring a well rounded skillset to their music with the help of sunny guitars, light but forward rhythms and a distinctly dream-poppy synth that percolates all over the song. These soul-healing tones are juxtaposed with Ananchev’s bleak analysis on inner-city life.
There’s footsteps above me
Can you imagine the view?
Indigent, indulgent
Is the difference important to you?
Images of homelessness and the surveillance state scar the pristine image of a high rise. Or is it the high rise that’s the real problem? Angelica float this question through an atmospheric instrumentation in which everything is locked in step and builds toward an effervescent release that isn’t entirely freeing. It writhes in tension and becomes really poignant — a building concern for the unknowable end result that every city is seemingly blind to.
I know, there’s no answer for this
Sing it, now answer me this
There's something so impactful about plain-spokenness from an artist bearing their anxieties in an evocative way. It’s a testament to their lyricism that provides a refreshingly realistic outlook on how to see the world. Worrying, yes, but at least it comes with no surprises. For Angelica’s part, they question if the future will be marred by structural decay — but, with no clear solution, all we can seemingly do is get comfortable for the ride ahead.
You can listen to “Downtown” anytime using the player at the top of the page and catch it on 88Nine throughout today (6:30, 10:30 a.m.; 2:30, 6:30 p.m.). The track will hit Angelica’s Bandcamp this Friday, July 18, and is part of their upcoming EP. If you want a chance to hear the song — and many others — live, the band will join Hemlock and Bitch Creek at Cactus Club for a show this Sunday, July 20.
