‘Denial’ by My Satellite is a funky indie-pop track that shows its listeners a relationship that’s on the brink of falling apart. The song’s groovy baseline and looping synths give the sound a sort of airiness. This highlighting how the couple seems to be in denial of how things are between them.
The song’s fast-paced percussion in the intro seems muffled and subdued. While the song’s synths and ear-candy add a bit of vibrancy or a sort of dreamlike affect. This while its lyrics attempt to placate or reassure the person they seem to be addressing. It almost seems like the two have had conversations like this on a loop. This feels evident in the lines: “…Last night ain’t nothing we can’t mend…”/ “…Tomorrow we’ll figure all it out…”
‘Denial’ feels expansive and vibrant, utilising the space in its soundscape to create a sort of back-and-forth that builds. This dream-like expansiveness build is subtle and in turn helps make the song easy to listen to. The way the sound moves in the song seems to also highlight the over arching theme of denial up until its abrupt ending or “breaking-point”.
All in all, ‘Denial’ by My Satellite is an easy, groovy listen that keeps the listener engaged until the very end.
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You’ll find my correspondence with the band below where they tell us a bit about ‘Denial’, their album ‘PERSON’ and more:
‘Denial’: Inspiration and Influences
Congratulations on the release of your track ‘Denial’! Could you tell us a bit more about the track? Inspirations, influences, the works!
Thank you! This song had quite the journey over the creation of the album. Ages ago I had written an instrumental piece for a short teaser of an indie film about a couple who was madly in love, but struggling to keep it together. The film never ended up happening, but I always liked the music I did for it. Cut to a few years later and we’re in the studio trying to find new ideas for songs and I pulled out this piece. Andy was vibing to it and the process of molding it into a My Satellite song began. We sped it up a little, added tracks, took some others away, and in the end the only thing that survived from that original piece was the key we were playing in. Ultimately our goal was to make it fun and retro and the most danceable song we had ever made. We took a lot of inspiration from Stevie Wonder, Sade, and Bee Gees, and with sprinkles of Thundercat and Tame Impala also in the mix.
While listening, I found myself getting lost in the groovy but subdued vibrancy of the track. Was this funky juxtaposition intentional?
I don’t know if I would call it intentional since that implies that we had it planned out like this from the beginning. Songs have a way of revealing themselves over time and this song definitely took its time revealing to us what it wanted to be. It went through a ton of rewrites and remixes, but we just couldn’t solve why it wasn’t feeling right. We liked the beat and the vocals, but just couldn’t get the rest of it working. Eventually Andy suggested that we strip it down and rebuild it with fresh ideas. He laid down these 80s yacht rock keys that really added a new flavor. Then I retooled the bass line, added some subtle layers like the disco strings, and the funk influence was starting to take shape. But it still wasn’t quite right. That’s when we realized that changing the bass tone to more of that Thundercat vibe could be the way to go. So we broke out a DOD Filter pedal and Andy just murdered the bass line one night ad took it to a new level. That’s when the funk groove was solidified. So was it intentional? I think we got the song where it was intended to go, but, as often happens when writing music, you’re just driving the car. The song is the navigator.
Could you tell us a bit more about the abrupt break at the end of the song?
That part really throws people for a loop which we kind of love. There are a few reasons why we did it. First of all, subverting expectations can be really powerful in music and we both really enjoy when an artist exercises restraint rather than taking a common path that your ear would expect. The last minute of the song keeps getting bigger, with more and more layers flying in as each cycle of the chorus hits. We wanted to make it as huge and chaotic sounding as the song could possibly hold. The obvious choice is to really make a meal out of that part. Perhaps we could have repeated the chorus another time and faded out or something else simple and typical, but that felt way too boring for this song. So what better way to subvert expectations than to cut it off right when you think more is coming? We felt it was just perfect. A second reason is that we were writing an album that is meant to be listened to as an album which is a bit of a retro concept these days. But in the context of the full record, I think people will understand the bigger picture and totally get it. The final reason is that it’s called “Denial” and it’s a pretty big denial to the listener. It’s almost like a foreshadowing of the rug being pulled out from under this relationship.
‘PERSON’: A Journey of Introspection
‘Denial’ is a single off your upcoming album ‘PERSON’. Could you tell us a bit more about the album? Give us a bit of an insight into the process of making it.
The album is a psychedelic adventure from the perspective of one person who meets someone new. Each song is a different snapshot of a moment on the rollercoaster of life in that relationship. We started working on it in 2016 after Andy and I spent a night drinking beers, doing psychedelics, and listening to our favorite albums. Something clicked in both of us that night which focused us on what the vibe of the new album should be. Since we were writing, recording and mixing it ourselves, it took us a lot of time, a lot of learning, and plenty of experimenting to achieve it, but we wanted a record that grooved, was sonically deep and beautiful, and just felt really good to listen to. We got experimental and didn’t put ourselves inside of any boxes while writing the album. Some songs are really long. Some don’t have a chorus. Some are pretty experimental. The rule was just to follow where the vibe was calling us. The downside of this approach was that it took us a long time to finish it, but that time and lack of pressure to finish allowed us to write and rewrite, mix and remix until every single song was up to the standard we were holding ourselves to. Every single track has something to offer and will lead the listener somewhere surprising if they let it.
You’ve been open about how reflective and introspective the journey of making this body of work has been. Have there been moments when creating the music has affected your personal lives and vice-versa?
Oh definitely. Being a musician can sound romantic to the non-musicians in your life, but when people see the reality of how much time and work it takes to create music and to turn that into a career, it can create a lot of conflict. Music is my number one relationship and everything else comes after that. It just is and has to be that way. That’s how my brain works and how a lot of musician’s brains work. Unfortunately, my dedication to my music career has hurt people in the past and there are things I wish I handled differently, but it’s a really difficult thing to balance and also rather frustrating when the music you create is one of the reasons they love you. Seeing how the sausage gets made isn’t all that attractive to some people when they see that it’s not particularly glamorous.
My Satellite’s Start and Evolution
Could you tell us a bit about how My Satellite got its start? How did your journey start?
Back in 2009, after playing bass in a number of different bands around L.A., I decided to start working on producing my own songs under the name My Satellite. That year I put out an EP called Telescopes and another EP the following year called Depths. At that point I began gathering a live band which is where I met Andy. He came in as our bassist and it was clear fairly immediately that he and I had a real musical kinship both as writers and producers. We really clicked. We wrote the song “Gravity Swells” together on Lift and that was the first inkling about how well our writing styles fit together. After the album cycle for Lift ended, I really didn’t know where else to take My Satellite as the response to that album was positive, but not as strong as we had hoped for. I had decided to focus on film scoring and was taking some time in Europe in 2015 when Andy texted me about making a record together. It just felt right for us to finally do a full collaboration on an album and about six months later we started working on Person
How has My Satellite evolved as a band over the years? In musicality and thought.
I think our biggest evolution has come with this latest album. We changed our focus to create a groove oriented sound that pulled from the past more than anything we had done before. During the course of writing, tracking and mixing we became better players, better writers, and better producers. If we had finished this album in 2016 it would have been an entirely different, more immature sound which wouldn’t have had as much depth as Person. We wouldn’t have been as happy with the album and we’d have been robbed of all the growth as musicians and people that the process gave us.
Is there anything about your musical journey that you would like to share? Perhaps to other indie-rock bands like you?
I think the most important thing in music is to just keep going. There are a lot of bands who would have probably thrown in the towel on an album like ours years ago. I don’t know where our journey ends with My Satellite, but fighting through all the frustrations and difficult times was well worth the reward of having something we’re proud to call our new album.
Thank you for taking the time out to answer my questions!
Follow My Satellite on Instagram!
Listen to ‘Denial’ here:
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