Grumpy Bear side project Holly and the Dead Saints – which I believe is primarily, if not entirely, our old pal Lattney B – returns with the uplifting pop-dirge “Journey into Death.” Lattney makes good use of the classic lo-fi tools of simple percussion and layers of acoustic guitars and vocals on this short and surprisingly sweet tune, which starts with a quick summary of the listener’s current status (beginning your journey into death). Within 40 seconds most of the lyrics have been sung, and for the remainder, Lattney repeatedly enjoins us to “remember” in straightforward, somewhat ominous bass tones, while continually adding layers of falsetto harmonies, creating a rich and soothing musical blanket from what started as a rather stern and foreboding shroud of a song. I’m not sure what it is I’m supposed to remember – especially once I’ve died – but I will certainly do my best. If nothing else, I know I’ll remember this song.
As a side note, I happen to be currently reading the novel Lincoln in the Bardo, by the brilliant George Saunders, and I find this song to have a lot of resonances with it. Of course, when you’re immersed in a novel, everything resonates with it a bit, but Lincoln in the Bardo is very much about death and memory (and the memories of the dead), to the extent that I almost wonder if Lattney was also reading it when he wrote this song. Probably not, but he should. And so should you, for that matter.