After a brief hiatus, Circle has re-emerged as a refined and poetic version of the previously indie-pop-rock band, delivering a lightly orchestrated, intimate acoustic single that is simply titled ‘Helen’.
Circle writes intimately, weaving what feels like a personal narrative into an easily relatable song, possessing enough innate beauty to soften even the hardest of critiques. ‘Helen’ is a lightly orchestrated acoustic tune that feels more like a fond memory than a song. Sufjan Stevens-esque whispered vocals adorn ambient and delicately plucked guitar. The result is an expansive and shimmery spectral that is disarming in its honesty.
‘Helen’ is plucked from Circle’s forthcoming album Coco and Charlie and provides a small taste of what is to come. He exlained, “Coco and Charlie started as a collection of love songs about the people in my life who’ve made an indelible mark in one way or another. As the material progressed over the course of demos and a natural whittling down process, the songs started to be more like archetypes. With that development came a deeper freedom to expand on the lyrical content and not be too constrained to a corporeal truth about an individual.”
The softly spoken lyrics from Radi Safi are instantly enchanting. Reminiscent of former front-runners Mount Eerie, The Middle East, and Sufjan Stevans. A talent of ‘Helen’ is that it avoids the trappings of kitsch nostalgia - instead, it is unquestionably rooted in the present.
Circle added, “We decided that we’d push classic four track demos to the absolute limit and record everything to our old Tascam tape machine. The process of a great condenser mic going through a world class preamp only to all end up on a $200 tape machine (with a ridiculously worn out tape inside) had a huge allure.”
The accompanying video for Helen was produced by Gabby Dadgostar, a veteran in the Sydney music video scene. Aligning with the thematic strengths of the music, that being rooted in the tender memory for loved ones. Gabby had the idea to collect and use iPhone footage in a unique way.
“It’s obviously a very simple concept but it marries beautifully with the aesthetic of the recording and lyrical content. Suffice to say we were all pleasantly surprised!”
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