Holly Small was last heard from on Ball of Wax Volume 40, as part of the instant, ephemeral band I Am the Deciders. Small returns to volume 42 to offer her take on the meaning of life as effusive bedroom synth pop. Subtitled “Unconditional,” the retro drum machine pattern and relentless synth arp in the first handful of measures suggests the kind of nervy soundtrack you might have found on The Terminator or a Death Wish movie from the eighties. Once the vocals come in, however, you can tell that something more period R&B is going on, with lyrics like “connection everlasting is heaven sent / we just don’t see clearly, that’s our predicament.” The chorus is carefully double-tracked, the lyrics continue on as guileless relationship advice, the song does not waver in tone or intention – Small isn’t messing around with sarcasm or irony. This song appears to be a loving re-imagining of a Jody Watley song or an early En Vogue demo. I thought that the self-harmonizing toward the end of the song momentarily evoked tUnE-yArDs or something from the Dirty Projectors’ Bitte Orca, but I was reaching because I’m a pretentious music jerk. Small’s “The Meaning of Life (Unconditional)” is apparently all about love and the music I remember most from middle-school dances in the years before e-mail, chill wave and everything being terrible. Now, if you’ll excuse me.
Holly Small will be performing at the Ball of Wax 42 release show on December 3rd at Conor Byrne. Don’t miss it!