In preparation for the release of an upcoming album, Aoun shares third singe ‘Shears’, co-written with and featuring Big Dumb Baby, alongside band members Aoun (guitar & vocals), Guillermo Goldschmied (bass), Eli Fowler (drums), Sean Brennan (cello), and Tree Palmedo (trumpet). This slow-burning alt-folk number unfolds the nuanced and oftentimes painful experience of accepting the end of a relationship. Over an exquisite 6 minutes and 49 seconds, the band transforms this relatable concept into something of a masterpiece.
Opening with deftly plucked strings and breathy vocal harmonies, ‘Shears’ initially appears as an intimate and familiar blend of stripped-back acoustic songwriting and indie-folk melodies. In this analog introduction, Aoun takes the motif of a well-known children’s nursery rhyme and refits it to convey the sense of loss one feels throughout a break-up. Through subtly melancholic tones, the lead vocalist sings, “Oh my darling, have you any wool? / Yes I do dear, take what you can hold, / Is that enough, do you need some more? / Please just leave enough to keep me warm.” This reworking of common-place sayings, such as “counting sheep” or “fair-weather friends”, is a captivating feature of this song. This lyrical re-usage mirrors the habit of rewearing an old sweater, perhaps one that belonged to a current or former lover; the context is everything.
This somber acoustic section shifts around the 2:40 minute mark when a sudden uplift in the vocal harmonies expresses a fleeting flicker of hope. “Will you give me shelter?” is one way that the protagonist wishes for reunification. The full-band swing into action with bass, drums, cello and trumpet swelling underneath the initial guitar, further emphasising that optimism. However, for as quickly as it arrives, it’s gone again. From here, a brooding electric guitar takes up its solitary place. Meandering through the empty space, an equally lonesome voice addresses an absent other, “you’re six weeks gone and I’m terrified of you coming home, / I wanna hear your voice, but I can’t seem to pick up the phone.” Soon enough, the songwriter remembers everything that their past love took from them and his voice become indignant. Matching this new-found injustice are thrashing guitars, crashing cymbals, and a howling trumpet. These elements are alive with a passion and fire that initially seemed void, reflecting the wild fury of emotions that often accompanies a break-up.
Here, Aoun shares the process behind this expansive new single: “Shears’ is a song written during the last legs of a relationship, when the relationship sits on its deathbed just waiting for that plug to be pulled, and the self reflection you go through in that moment. The song was split into two parts and those two parts were written separately (lyrically speaking), one was written in those final self reflective moments during the relationship, and the second half was written right after it had ended.”
‘Shears’ is set to feature on Auon‘s upcoming album The Shepherd & All Her Beautiful Sheep, recorded and produced in Brooklyn, New York.
You can also find ‘Shears’ in our Folk This Way playlist.
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