Skela
Queens by Brooklyn’s Skelela has been making DIY maximalist pop for a hot minute now that has been continuing the catch the ears & hearts of many. Recently releasing singles that have followed up her 2015 debut Not Alone as a collaboration with Josh Jacobson—Skelela presents her latest single “Always, Always (From Jack to Edie)” that deals in promises & complicated matters that tackle the trickiness of interpersonnel bonds when pulled in different & divergent directions.
“Always, Always (From Jack to Edie)” operates like an epistolary exchange recited during a late & sleepness night into the receiver while the radio plays on in the background. With words of a sworn return to an offstage other, Skela plays out the heart-wrenching & emotion wrought drama that remains steadfast & unwavering despite the tumultous circumstances while the evocative electronic arrangemnt underscores all implied sentiments in full via a musical sort of subtext.
“Always, Always” is a song inspired by the relationship between Edie Parker and the famous beatnik writer, Jack Kerouac. Some of my favorite books and poems have come out of the beatnik era. After going on a recent binge through some of the beat generation’s biggest names (Keroauc, Burroughs, Childish, Ginsberg), Edie Parker’s autobiography sort of just fell into my lap (recommended reading on Amazon). Parker was Kerouac’s first wife, but more importantly, one of the only females alive long enough to tell a female recount of one of America’s grandest and grittiest literary eras.
The book was a completely new outlook on the era and the true events and real life characters that were hidden between lines and fake names of stories I’ve read dozens of times. It was so inspiring to hear about one of my favorite literary eras from a woman. The song is about always coming back to someone, no matter how far they wander, no matter what kind of person you become, no matter how bad or good things get, you always come back because thats what you do when you really love someone.
