Vents MagaZine Music and Entertainment Magazine
Related Articles
Today, surrealist folk act Youth in a Roman Field releases the extended edition of their last album, Get Caught Trying, which includes a brand new single, titled, “Might As Well Have Gone To The Movies”.
Lead singer Claire Wellin spoke on the new version of the record, and it’s new track saying:
“We released the album last November, but earlier this year recorded a new version of “Might As Well Have Gone To The Movies” at Better Company Studios. The song as it was first recorded for the album didn’t quite fit into the thing as a whole. Allen (who co-produced and mixed the record) had the idea to use the original demo of the song as inspiration, then by way of Kendrick Lamar’s influence, break it up and use it as a “guide” throughout the record. The lyrics center the conflict between fantasy and reality, confronting the parts of my romantic nature that lend themselves to delusion and ultimately accepting the disappointments of unrequited love. It lets the subject (me, and you!) accept ourselves despite mistakes we’ve made – while acknowledging that we usually are, especially as women, alone in our knowing, in our resolve, and in loving ourselves.
As time went on and we continued to play the song live, a different version emerged: what was once an acapella ballad became a cocoon-like salve in three-part harmony. Cassidy, Tiffany, and I have been singing together for ten years now, and I wanted the opportunity to go back into the studio and try a new version that centered a collective instead of individual resolve and knowing. This also reopened space for the instrumental pieces of the puzzle (Scott on electric 8-string guitar and Jamie on upright bass) to flourish, and created a shared experience – representative of the world I want to help build and inhabit – one in which we are not alone, in which we are stronger together, in which we are allies to and not competitors with one another. It’s a world I believe is possible through education and action against systems of oppression and for new systems from which everyone benefits. Re-releasing the album with this addition has helped complete a cycle of healing and serves as a literal record of time, place, and process. Listening to and embracing those who have come before us, who have been fighting the fight against so many odds and for so many years, is a reminder that we do not live this life alone – and will not go into the future alone, either.”
