Songs to get close to...

Artist: Architecture in Helsinki
Song: Contact High (listen)
Album: Moment Bends (buy)

You look up the definition of a ‘Contact High’ and it references the high experienced when a person comes into contact with those under the influence of a drug or illegal substance. This is a trivialising definition, as it in no way acknowledges the contact high of a gig or the contact high of a shared experience. Those situations that you get a high from, but only due to the fact that those around you are experiencing similar intense emotions due to the collective consciousness of that moment.

But hey, none of what I just said has anything to do with the actual song but it is partly an explanation as to why I fell in love with it. First listen was enjoyable, I was taken by surprise when I stumbled across it on One Track Mind, the intense beat pounding in the background with the warm and gentle vocals laid over the top. Hmmmm, maybe this is worth another listen? Even just the second time round I found myself craving the chorus, finding the introduction taunting me as it stretched out blissfully while I like a junkie yearned for the ‘Contact High’ to kick in. Before I knew it, it was downloaded and the repeat button was highlighted.

The song creates a bizarre feeling of claustrophobia. Much like the man in the video, phantom hands reach out, caressing your senses. It seems pathetic to object after all you’re enjoying it but...the sense of powerlessness...is unnerving. ‘Walls’, ‘vision gone’, ‘silent down here’ create a feeling of self-imposed helplessness. But the song makes it all seem alright, it may be hopeless but my ‘strange infatuation’ will keep me safe, as will the fact that whenever I listen I get that contact high.

Yours not here man,

JoewMo