The age-old musical tradition of pondering death’s place in life, is alive and well in Brooklyn-by-way-of-Durham, NC folk-pop outfit Yairms. Their new single, “DMT,” is a vibrant campfire dance that thuds and twangs and wails in metaphoric inquiries that toe the lines between heartbreak, wonder, and plain unknowable uncertainty. It’s got a timelessness to it, with airy keys and the twang of acoustic guitar fluttering over a near-overwhelming pulse of percussion. Just like the title psychedelic (which, no, it’s not about that), the song is larger than life, with instrumentation that sounds like it was recorded on the moon. The low-end of drums resonates like the big bang of new universes being created, and the big-room feel of guitar and vocals instills the amazement of their exploration. Singer Jeremy Finch’s pained and confounded crooning meditates on loss and memory. “And you always said that everything was fine,” the chorus cries, “obliterated by the old age of your time.” Finch is at a loss. We all are when it comes to these things. But we’re not all as able to put it so eloquently as he.
