Many of us can link a certain album to pivotal moments in our lives. Whether it’s the first record you bought with your own money, the chord you first learnt to play on guitar, the song that soundtracked your first kiss, the album that got you those awkward and painful pubescent years or the one that set off light bulbs in your brain and inspired you to take a big leap of faith into the unknown – music is often the catalyst for change in our lives and can even help shape who we become.
In this series, Music Feeds asks artists to reflect on their relationship with music and share with us stories about the effect music has had on their lives.
Here are their love letters to records that forever changed their lives.
Annie Bass – Death Cab For Cutie: Plans
To my dear Plans,
You’re playing now as I write to you with love in my heart and tears in my eyes. From ‘Soul Meets Body’ to ‘Stable Song’, every minute of this record takes me back in time.
The instant I heard these songs it felt like they were mine. Mine to sing, my stories to remember, mine to sit and play along like it was religion. I suppose I should thank my first unrequited love, for without him I’d have never found you. I’ve spent years writing music alone in my room, but I could never articulate emotion like you have.
‘I Will Follow You Into The Dark’ was the anthem to my teenage angst, and playing the intro to ‘Brothers On A Hotel Bed’ became a nightly ritual. Two weeks after my high school graduation I moved to Melbourne, and as it turns out 17 is pretty young to move away from home. So I spent the long lonely nights with you, over and over until I could recite every word. ‘Stable Song’ would play on repeat like a lullaby until I’d fall asleep and ‘Crooked Teeth’ would wake me every morning. Music always had a unique way of dictating my emotions, but never before had I been so close to a collection of songs.
It would be years until I had the courage to play my own songs to anyone. I could hear your melodies flowing through all of them. To this day, when I sit down to write I can hear your repetitive chord progressions playing on a loop, and remember your way with words. No one had ever told me tales of heartbreak, of dying, of love the way you did, and you helped me turn my pages and pages of late night, early morning rambles into my own stories.
I know you’re not perfect, but you gave me more than just an album.
I will never forget this melodic indie-pop roller coaster, and I will never forget you.
Love always
Annabel
–
Catch Annie Bass performing live at Purple Sneakers’ 12th Birthday at Sydney’s The Lansdowne Hotel on Saturday, 16th June. Grab tickets here.
