FAWM: "Cinema Whispers"

Cinema Whispers

Liner Notes

I've been sat on the music for this one for a few days, struggling to get the lyrics right. I don't think I've managed it yet, these feel very placeholder-y to me, but I need to put this one behind me and move on - maybe I'll break the habit of a lifetime and come back to revise this one later if I can figure out any improvements. I really like the music! And the title!

Trying for a kinda #postrock #slowcore vibe rather than my usual manic tempo, which is good as it's slow enough that I actually managed to play the drums on this one rather than faking it!

Lyrics

the lights are going down
so I guess it’s time
that we stopped talking
I dressed up nice
and did my hair
just to sit next to you in the dark

we’ll sit and we’ll stare
and breathe the same air

can’t say how I missed this
getting lost in the wash of
the cinema whispers

when the credits roll
we’ll get our things
and we’ll start walking
taking nothing out
into the night air
apart from those hushed remarks

the things that we’ve seen
left behind on the screen

and then when it’s over
I’ll always remember
the cinema whispers

Comments

@skylermf 4d

This chorus is killer! I like how you’ve sprinkled references to movies throughout the song.

@arcane 5d

Such a big sound and a stirring vibe! That slide riff is brilliant, your vocals are gorgeous! No improvements needed from my point of view. Love it!

@thelowestbitter 6d

that clean arpeggiated guitar sounds so nice, love the slow groove of this, and the fuzzier guitars and splashy cymbals in the chorus sound really anthemic. I like the little guitar licks in the pre-chorus bit, and then the bit of space between that and the chorus with just the chiming guitar works really well. In good form this fawm!

@balancelost 1w

That is a good title. I love the 2 guitars and the sliding riff that one of them does. Great chorus, and the big rock out at the end is a hit. The only thing I'm not happy about here is you talking in a cinema!

@frenchcricket 1w

That bass riff that sort of goes up like an elephant call is really nice. It sounds so nice with that clean picked guitar. I think you’re being way too self-critical. This is absolutely lovely.

@scottmcb 1w

Loving the feel. Very early 00s indie rock/emo vibe. Like Death Cab almost. The change to distorted guitars is a nice change up. Excellent song

@texmachine_mk2021 1w

I really like this, and I think the lyrics here are excellent. Sketches an image in a few words which is very intriguing to the listener, and that's an awesome result in my book. The instrumentation and the pace really set the scene, too.

@communitykickabout 1w

I resent the notion that these are place-holder lyrics:

we’ll sit and we’ll stare
and breathe the same air

can’t say how I missed this
getting lost in the wash of
the cinema whispers

---

...can you please provide me with all your place holder lyrics hence forth and I will present them as my best work without any sense of shame?

Love the bass on this one.

@bradbrubaker 1w

Simple and poignant. How a snapshot of folks sitting the dark together at the movies can tell a whole story. Good vibe.

@waar 1w

This doesn't sound placeholder-y to me - I love it. The guitars sound great and I love that sliding riff. The chorus is brilliant. And the drums!! Did you really play them?? I did not know you could play the drums! They suit the song perfectly.

@betoMod 1w

Love those guitars and it's such a sweet song, soft and well balanced. Really nice, I listened to it a few times!

@thedutchwidows 1w

The guitars are so good on this - many parts all tying together in a super-satisfying way. Left ear, right ear, middle ear. Beautifully thought out. Chimey goodness with a lovely bass part too. Vocal sounds great - you're hitting some super low notes, which sound really good. Do you do low notes often? I wouldn't say I have a wholly comprehensive knowledge of your oeuvre, but I can't recall many. You should do them more. This is a really lovely song. Could be my favourite of yours this year.

@owl 1w

Love the feel of this one, the slow chimey guitar riff is lovely and then the louder part coming in at the chorus feels so satisfying! I think the lyrics are lovely as well, the title/refrain is gorgeous and I really like the half rhyme with “missed this”. Big fan of that huge guitar outro into quiet conclusion!

@ayeahmur 1w

Really sweet song. I love the idea that not only going to see a movie together is special, but communication is too - possibly both sacred and illicit at the same time. Secrets that cement a relationship that no-one else gets to hear.

The slow roll of the guitar is lovely underneath it. I can imagine this as the song over closing credits, the cinema light playing over two rapt faces.

@jimdgreen 1w

if Radiohead and Death Cob for Cutie collaborated on there joint love of cinema - they'd be disappointed this already existed to eclipse them . . .

@adforperu 1w

Oh that is a gorgeous guitar line, the little slide up until that chord is a wonder. The lyrics are really nice I thought, a l bit of an ode to cinema but with a universal bent. The chorus is a great sing-along! Albeit I'm just walking to M&S so I'm not *actually* singing along

@michellelyons 1w

I think the lyrics work brilliantly, and the music itself is great! I'm always going to the cinema alone myself. Although the most recent thing I saw was Eraserhead, which isn't much of a date movie...

@jsini 1w

Guitar sounds great! This is so peaceful, it is calming the stress right out of me. Very good idea for a song. I like it like this, but I’d like to hear your revisions. I happy I picked this to listen to. Lovely.

@judypie 1w

Relevant to my interests!
Really like the vibe, makes me sad because although I go to the cinema all the time, I always go alone 😅 I will live vicariously through this song, pretending I have someone to go with 😁 Love the MASSIVE ENDING dude, awesome. Can definitely hear that over some rolling credits of its own!

@sph 1w

I like the story in this. Sad and romantic and a touch of nostalgia is what I feel when listening.
Great when the energy rises in the repeated chorus.

@loveonamixtape 1w

Okay, my dude, this is SO GOOD, including(especially?) the lyrics (the only thing keeping the question mark there is that the music really is so so good.) I love how the music is totally post-rock, but the melody and singing has such a lush, romantic quality to it. "we’ll sit and we’ll stare/and breathe the same air" is so good that I was angry when I could tell it wasn't going to repeat or be the refrain, until I 1) heard the actual refrain, which is so swoony and 2) heard the variation "the things that we’ve seen/left behind on the screen" which is arguably just as good. I really don't think you need to touch this? I could see you MAYBE reworking or refining the second verse, but I will honestly never forgive you if you touch anything else (because did I mention yet that the first verse is perfect?) ANYWAY as someone who had a terrible second date with her now husband of a million years and it only turned around after the movie we saw in the theater (the Dark Night Rises for those keeping score at home) this one really hit me.

@quoththellama 1w

I think these lyrics are great. I love the way you did the choruses. Musically and lyrically, really great hook. I wanted to hear it just keep going at the end until it faded out. Very nicely done!