Mates of State
Aren’t they adorable? Kori Gardner and Jason Hammel, who together compose Mates of State, take cuteness about as far as the mind can comfortably imagine. In addition to being a husband/wife duo who sing perfectly crafted pop songs about love (enough to push the envelope all by itself), they don’t use guitars. All organs and synths here, none of that pesky jangling guitar to get in the way of their cuddliness.
At least, that was the case until recently. Their most recent album Bring It Back, released a couple months ago, reveals a band who have dialed back the preciousness (don’t worry, only a little bit), developed their harmonies, added the occasional guitar or two for depth, and written their best songs yet.
This was not entirely unforseen. Last year’s EP All Day, despite only being four songs long, may have been their best record to date. It included one of the most infectious melodies of the 21st century on this song:
Check out that moment at 22 seconds when the first “waa-ohh!” bursts out. And then bounce and bop your way through the rest of the song.
If All Day was the promise of things to come, Bring It Back is the fulfillment. The songs on this album are textured, without losing any of the magic that made their early works so good. This is a more mature album, but it remains sparkly, full of life, and a whole lot of fun. Where in the past they often got by without really seeming to know how to sing or harmonize, getting by on sheer exuberance, they sound more polished. It’s still a romp, but it’s a romp that is so gorgeous it buckles the knees.
You like Stars? You’ll love this song. Jangly, quick, bouncy, glorious. It’s all good, but the clear highlight is the chorus, with that rolling bassline that underlines and guides that “na na na, na, na na na na…do it all the time.” I’m not sure there’s a better 10 seconds of music that’s been released this year.
This one is a bit more rollicking. Quick-paced and just enough off-kilter to keep you honest. The highlight here is at 3:20 when they each sing their own chorus, one on top of the other. I’ve always thought that while they sound good when singing together, they are at their best when the different timbres of their voices are allowed to mesh more randomly. When you combine two identical waves all you get is a new wave with much larger peaks and valleys. However, when you combine two different waves, each with its own peaks and valleys, the result is far more interesting. When done poorly, it sounds awful, but when done well (and they do them very well) these discordant harmonies are powerful. Then, when they return to singing together for a line, the soaring combination sounds so much stronger.
At the risk of being a little cliche, I think this is a pretty good metaphor for a relationship. You can’t be happy with someone exactly like you, and you certainly can’t be happy trying force the other person into that mold. While there should be many times when you work in perfect conjunction, those are made all the better when placed in context of each other’s uniqueness. The key is to find someone whose peaks and valleys complement your own.
From the sound of it, Kori and Jason have. And, as if we needed any more proof, here’s one more picture. Just look at how cute they are!
