Song of the Day: Erik Blood - Quiet

Every Monday through Friday, we deliver a different song as part our Song of the Day podcast subscription. This podcast features exclusive KEXP in-studio performances, unreleased songs, and recordings from independent artists that our DJs think you should hear. Today’s song, featured on the Midday Show with Cheryl Waters, is “Quiet” by Erik Blood from his 2016 album, Lost in Slow Motion, on Homeskillet.

Erik Blood - Quiet (MP3)

One of Seattle's most prolific and integral musicians of the last half decade, Erik Blood's musical contributions to a variety of projects, including his own solo work, have established the Tacoma native as one of the Emerald City's most adept musicians. Blood's production resume essentially reads like a greatest hits of recent Seattle royalty (Tacocat, Vox Mod, Shabazz Palaces, OC Notes, THEESatisfaction), and his solo endeavors cover nearly as much stylistic ground, often existing in a gauzy, Cocteau-esque haze that allows Blood to conjure tones and feelings without ever honing in on one specific lyrical or genre framework. His latest record, this year's Lost in Slow Motion, takes the spacious rock and roll of his 2012 album Touch Screens and doubles down on its more amorphous qualities. "Quiet", which features Irene Barber on vocals, lives in a 3 a.m. fog, thick with tension. But as the luscious synths lock into a feathery swell that links up with Barber's quiet storm of a vocal performance, the track converges into a stirring tempest of M83-style electronics that aim straight for the heartstrings. Lost In Slow Motion taps into that cathartic feeling a number of times throughout the record, but never more potently than on "Quiet", where Blood and Barber paint just enough of their musical picture for the listener to be able to reflectively get lost in.

Erik Blood's next show is at the 733 in Tacoma with Mirrorgloss and Echoes In Sleep on June 4. Get more information about that show here, keep up with Erik at his website and Twitter, and watch Erik and Irene perform "Quiet" live on KEXP back in 2015.