Melbourne MP3 Of The Week: Sighing Eyes by Tehachapi

It’s something subtle and magical when you hear a song develop with each section like a simple sapling that grows into a burning tree. In “Sighing Eyes” Tehachapi has a song that grows organically, coming into focus like a panorama pushing through a pinhole, with things that are slight or unresolved all at once stretching out and spilling their parts in every direction til you have one big image before you and the intention of the image becomes apparent.

Opening with echoing guitars that spring back and forth over dreamy chords, “Sighing Eyes” could possibly lure you into a false sense of prog. The song in my opinion actually toes the line between folk and 90s rock, with the simple directness of the former and the grandiose dynamics of the latter.

On top of grungy guitars, a simple two-part harmony rises and falls, woven thick like the bowline of some old ship, moving between a calm ebbing moan to an expressive half-wail. As if getting impatient with the languor of the vocals, a deep bass drum kicks on the beat like bushman-folk, creating a sense of urgency and movement.

The moaning vocals and the pulsing kick drum keep pushing at the pressure points until the song breaks open at the halfway point, pouring with dramatic drumlines, Frusciante-esque guitars, chanting vocal harmonies and the first real appearance of the bass, elevating the song into dramatic force, moving one direction all at once like a wind tunnel before finishing on simple, sombre (possibly cheesy) piano chords.

Though probably not the type of music I usually go for, this song hits the spot. They’re playing tonight, and I reckon they’d put on a good show. So go.

Download: http://m.soundcloud.com/tehachapi/100-sighing-eyes

Tehachapi start a month-long residency on Monday, July 4 at
The Worker’s Club
51 Brunswick St, Fitzroy
Doors 8pm