Love Thy Neighbor, As They Mend Broken Fences, Even Whilst Going Brutally “Broke”
One Play
Two Versions
Three Scenes
The Author would like to dedicate this piece to GG, who said “so good!” and said “wtf?!” upon hearing the bad news.
- Michael Angelakos, to himself
Scene 1: The Sundae “Serve”
Detail:
An email from someone, the email not forwarded but quoted by the messenger for some reason—new for me—and news to me that this song was a thing because some of us don’t do social media because it’s.. so…
Pretend Correspondence 1
March 25 2024
Hey Michael , take a look and listen at the below from Neon Gold folks. Let's discuss whenever :
As you may know 'Sleepyhead' was the first single Neon Gold ever released back in September of 2008, and as we're in the midst of both the 15th anniversary of the label and coming up on the anniversary of Manners this spring I thought there might be some synergies worth exploring. One of the more timely ideas is around our single 'Home' with Good Neighbours, a new duo out of the UK for whom Passion Pit is one of their biggest influences... Was thinking a remix swap could be interesting if it was ever something Michael would consider?
The song is flying out the gates, already the biggest debut single ever released by a band in the streaming era in terms of immediate streaming/chart impact (Top 30 in the UK this week and #84 on Hot 100 over here), over 70 million streams and 12.7mil monthly listeners on Spotify in the 6 weeks since the song dropped Jan 17th. I know Michael was never really big on remixes himself (I think it was always the other P Pit guys who actually made the Passion Pit remixes back in the day), but perhaps that's changed over the years. All good either way, but the timing and synergy all just felt too ideal not to throw it out there :-)
Sharing some more demos from them here too as there's some even better stuff than 'Home' that's a little bit closer to Passion Pit's world:
(link broken)
Pretend Correspondence 2
Hey Michael -
As discussed, GN would love to have you remix “Home.”
The remix would be due by end of April latest and the fee would be 15k USD. Just adding vocals is cool, but they would love if you added some synth/production if possible. If you write anything, they will adjust publishing splits to be commensurate with your writing.
Scene 2: The Volley
Detail:
The Year 2024 After Death of our Lord. The day? April 19th. A looming tour approaches, the hellish costs encroaching. The willingness to show ‘em…the same old thing, like a legacy artist in retirement or something.
Angelakos is getting treated for tmj, sleep apnea, and untold number of ailments caused by stress. ‘Will I ever be able to sing these songs?’ he asks Katie Rossiter of Bard College, is vocal instructor, to which she replied ‘Michael, yes. You’re going to be fine. You’re going to be fine. You’re going to be fine.” He thanks her and runs to his car to have a real cigarette —it was the vapes, he piped up at one point to her. She went ‘I mean…yyyyeah!’
Pretend Correspondence 1
In a reply to a reply to a reply to a reply email for whatever reason, Mr. A writes:
So far, I am enjoying this process. I am frankly putting a lot of effort into it, just because it’s a great great melody and just ready for some pretty awesome takes on it. I really want it to slam. Anyway, would you guys maybe be able to get me the emails of the good neighbors fellas?
Just wanna say hi. Etc.
Thanks — %*$& I will get back to you about the bio. Basically the answer is IDK, but we will figure it out. I am going to ask G@#&!# about it too.
Pretend Correspondence 2
Yes, we’ll get the email
Pretend Correspondence 3
Here is the email
Pretend Correspondence 4
Angelakos writes in earnest
Hey there,
I just wanted to congratulate you both—you have some beautiful tunes here, as well as the attention of the public. So exciting when songs grab hold. It’s a crazy thing and I hope you are enjoying! The terror! And fun!
I have to tell you, it took me a few listens to fully appreciate more than just *the song*. That is to say, I liked it, but deep-diving has yielded great rewards for me personally as a music fan. My god, that melody in the chorus…just staggeringly beautiful. Really, I’m sure you are performing it acoustic for promo and so forth, and I hope it is consistently revealing itself to you with each performance. This is a far more dynamic, wide-ranging song than any duration, tempo, enormous amount of reverb can express for, with, or on its behalf (which is dope, btw, but the remix is going to be a little drier I think—if you like it). In any case, a big song like this defines you, which isn’t really fair but that’s how it’s done, and I just hope you feel confident in what you’ve done here as you begin to do all you will be doing moving forward (read: a lot). I mean it. I’m telling you: what will get me to write an email like this is a chorus that has been tearing my heart apart each and every time I try to figure out where the hell to go with the section of the song. It is a most welcome torture—seriously. The amount of times I have had to listen to some audiobook about the CIA or something in order to not hear it in my head while trying to fall asleep…
I am not on any social media. There are pros and cons to that, but for the most part consider living off it it to be like living in Antarctica. Like, I basically know what’s going on—I’ve got enough tech. But I don’t understand anyone’s jokes, or what’s *happening in general* because they are all tiktok/instagram/whatever informed. I literally do not know what popular music is anymore—I expected this though. And now that I will be 37 in a month, I feel that much farther away, like physically in another realm, from what is happening in the world. It’s fine. But I remember when Sleepyhead came out, and myspace songs were, like, “not real” — bands that used laptops were posers, inauthentic. It was brutal. But it took off somehow. People listened to it. Derek/Lizzy were directly involved in that. They saw that happen. And when it happens, you really can’t even understand what’s going on. Maybe it’s different today. I hope it is. I really hope you are enjoying yourselves.
I have several versions of this remix. I have slower ones. I have faster ones. What they all do is what…I do—in the most classic sense. I really like pretty, and I really like euphoric, and I really like to bring out all that achingly beautiful stuff you have going on in your song. I feel very honored to be asked to do this remix. Thanks for the opportunity.
Anyway, this is me genuinely geeking out about the melody in this song. I am really bad at faking enthusiasm. Both songs are great.
I know your schedules are insane. But if you ever wanted to chat, I’m totally game
It’d be really cool to maybe jump on a call or a FaceTime and say hi at some point. I’m around.
Best of luck and take care
Michael Angelakos
Scene 3: The Chicago Meltdown
Abandonment. Illness in the middle of tour. Will they pay the promised sum? Will Angelakos go broke? What is not good about it?
No answer.
End Scene
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