Losing control under chilled-out beats.
*Archive Article: Originally published in the magazine Blacklisted Copenhagen on July 16, 2018
With just a couple singles under his belt, Michael Paradise rode a wave of indie-pop and chillwave bands that have recently come across my desk. And even with such a minimal oeuvre, I’m eager to see where Mr. Paradise goes next.
Now I need to be honest here, I first had this article drafted out as a serious look into Michael Paradise’s work and the new single – exploring a comment he made about his own work:
“I have a knack for misplacing trivial, but sometimes valuable, things in my life and it has always driven me a little mad. In the recent months, I’ve lost a lot more – things that aren’t trivial. “lost control” is about just that – the lack of control we have over a life that feels like we are in control of, and the madness that ensues.”
I began to dive into the work in comparison to other similar-sounding artists popping up on my radar – New York’s Gus Dapperton, Seattle’s U.S.F, Copenhagen’s M.I.L.K. I listened to the single in repetition, looking for the mood and juxtaposition between heavy lyrical content and light sound.
Yet, as I began to write, the article began to shift into this tongue-in-cheek commentary on a whole bit on the ridiculousness of this sub-sub-sub genre term Chillwave – a genre Michael’s work has often been described as.
This led me off onto a side rant about incredibly pretentious sub-genres of music like Glo-fi, Hypnogogic Pop, and Yacht Rock and how they automatically conjure images of dickheads in vintage Member’s Only jackets, drinking $15 Whole Food smoothies, while talking about their “cathartic experience” at South by Southwest.
At that point, the whole article had fallen apart – lacking in any cohesion. So, I went back to listening to Paradise’s new single. As I let the chilled out rhythms and the trip-hop beat hopefully guide me into a new reverie, I started reading Paradise’s “about” section on his Soundcloud account.
And with that…my work was done for me.
Rather than regurgitating the PR material, or trying to whip up something clever, I will leave you with Michael Paradise’s own story (fact or fiction be damned), while you listen to his newest single.
