Every week, the Milwaukee Music Premiere sponsored by Density Studios connects the city’s artists with our listening audience. If you’re an artist with a track you’d like us to debut exclusively on Radio Milwaukee, head over to our Music Submission page to learn how.
Can a song be lo-fi and high-tech at the same time? It turns out the answer has everything to do with time itself.
That’s a heady way to introduce today’s Milwaukee Music Premiere from Edie Current, and yet it’s entirely accurate because of the timeline the five-piece band is working on. Their self-description is “dreamy indie pop vibes with elements of ’90s alt sprinkled in.” But something else from that decade jumps out when you hit play on “Bye Bye Away,” the track getting its debut here.
If you’re a ’90s kid, your ears will perk up about 15 seconds into the song, which is when the 8-bit element (chiptune, as it’s technically called) kicks in. The bleeps and bloops (a slightly less technical term) are a constant the rest of the way and even get a little solo right around the halfway mark, providing a cool sonic element that blends nicely with the mellow instrumentation Edie Current lay down.
The lyrics work with that sound, even if they don’t quite jive with the vibe. There’s an undercurrent of snark throughout, including the chorus that plainly states, “It doesn’t matter what I say / You’ll forget yesterday.” The feeling gets even more pointed in the bridge:
Can you blame a girl
For knowing what she is worth?
Can you blame a girl
For wanting something better for herself?
Can you blame a girl?
Can you blame a man?
I don’t blame anyone
I know there’s a master plan
As the band explained to us, the song “touches on the modern-day dilemma of how fast everything changes, from the news to our day-to-day lives, and how we can forget yesterday so easily.”
With that sentiment in mind, the flat affectation in the vocals hit even harder. It’s not resignation, exactly. It’s closer to matter-of-factness — laying out the problem without even a whiff of solution. Better just to wave it off, whatever “it” is at that particular moment.
You can catch “Bye Bye Away” from Edie Current on 88Nine throughout today (6:30 and 10:30 a.m.; 2:30 and 6:30 p.m.) or enjoy it anytime using the player at the top of the page.
