Pleaser is the music of Carrie Furniss and Travis Hagan, a very loving couple based in New York City. This experimental pop duo draws inspiration from the “true love” tropes of Reality TV and their own marriage while overcoming the limitations and learning curve of their superfluous gear obsession. Their diverse musical backgrounds in jazz, punk, noise, modular synthesis, and free improvisation culminate into a wonky top-40 fantasy.
(Photo Credit: Steph Rinzler)
My favorite album that came out in 2024 is World of Wonder by Ryan Power. What I love about Ryan’s music is that he can perfectly narrate both the figurative angel and the devil on my shoulder. This record is the musical embodiment of the id. I feel like such a voyeur listening to it. As he spills his guts, there are so many relatable moments that I want to thank him for laying it all out on the table, because I sometimes have a hard time finding the words to describe the existential dread and culture of this time period. Somehow, he manages to sing about these heavy topics with humor and laser-like precision. Some of the lyrics made me laugh out loud on the first listen, especially “Kind Sucker (Doodle Book),” which is about (successfully or unsuccessfully) trying to pick yourself up after a breakup. He sings: “As you sleep with him/is it not a sin to want to throw/your doodle book away?/that poodle makes me gay.” I love the honesty in which he grapples with this situation, because our first thoughts in times of interpersonal crises can sometimes be silly caricatures of revenge before we get to the real work of moving through the conflict and finding some sort of peace within ourselves afterwards. Life is so much better when you can laugh at your inner monologue and not take the negative thoughts too seriously, and I think this record does that really well.
The lyrics are only half of the fun in this album, because the melodies, harmonies, and arrangements are out-of-control good. As a vocalist myself, it impresses me that he can write these very instrumental, intricate, and vertical vocal melodies and still deliver the lyrics conversationally and un-robotically. Harmonically, it’s prolific. There are so many great harmonic surprises and shifts in each song. My favorite chord progression on the record is on “Dracula Reality,” where there are cool angular harmonic transitions between each section. The beat shifts from 1-3 to 2-4 from verse to chorus and that tickles me too. Ryan blows me away with his ability to present harmonically-dense compositions and still manage to make them sound poppy and accessible. There is so much to say about the music! But I won’t bore you with Adam Neely-esque musical analysis. Instead, you’ll have to listen to it for yourself 🙂
Pleaser’s Sweet Beautiful Music is out now.
