Such Sweet Sorrow

Citizen Helene “‘Til Tomorrow” – It’s only one guitar and one voice overdubbed into a gorgeous harmony, but it’s enough to build this perfect image in my mind. It’s a small apartment, a walk up in some old building with a gray stone facade. There are books in piles, too many to fit on the shelves. There’s empty tea cups on a coffee table, and a newspaper from three days ago folded out of shape. The decor is a bit scattered, but there’s a lot of browns and oranges — curtains, rug, pillows. The window is open, and rain drizzles in fits and starts. It’s a bit too humid, but there’s no fan, no air conditioner. There’s a couch and chairs, but you’re sitting on the floor by the window, and when a bit of breeze drifts in on the 1:13 mark, it might just be the best thing you feel all day. (Click here for the Citizen Helene MySpace page.)

Lavender Diamond “Like An Arrow” – “Ah, like an arrow, closer,” over and over and over. It doesn’t sound anything like an arrow — it’s more like a spiral, or concentric circles. Becky Stark’s mantra sounds less like actual words as the song progresses. By the middle, it’s just pure melody offset by the thumping beat, the faint echo of a male singer, and snippets of piano and guitar that suddenly enter the foreground of the composition before seeming to vanish entirely. (Click here to buy it from Matador.)