The Embers - By Vagabon
TITLE: The Embers
ARTIST: Vagabon
GENRE: Indie Rock
MOOD: Vulnerable / Powerful
SIMILAR TO: Jay Som, Allison Crutchfield, Mitski “I feel so small/My feet can barely touch the floor/On the bus where everybody is tall.”
This is how Laeticia Tamko, the artist behind Vagabon, begins her song “The Embers.” Poet Lora Mathis talks a lot about using “radical softness as a weapon,” and that’s what Vagabon feels like to me: self-revelation and vulnerability gives Tamko her power. You can hear it in the soft-loud transitions of the track, which climbs from simple lyrics and guitar to all-out indie rock noise. “The Embers” is the perfect song for angry-crying until you feel better or walking down the street and taking ownership of your presence in the world after being told for years that you can’t.
Tamko sings, “I’m just a small fish, and you’re a shark that hates everything.”
She said in her recent interview with Pitchfork that making music is uncomfortable for her, but she pushes through it to find power. Feeling like a small fish is difficult, but I’m so glad she can sing this song in front of a tank of sharks (watch her beautiful music video below and get ready to feel things) and own it anyway.