Our Brother The Native American

Our Brother The Native – Catalpa

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“Catalpa” opens like a Grizzly Bear track, all fuzz and “Deep Sea Diver” bubble stream. The similarities end there, however, and it becomes clear within seconds that this song was not meant to be heard before 1:00 AM, let alone in the light.

The vocals are unintelligible, the guitar a slouched exhibition of disappointment. Even the piano drums a steady, headshake of a waltz. But most interesting is how “Catalpa” manages to create substance by amassing layer upon layer of wisp. Which is not to say the song is airy, but rather dense with the infinitesimal. A found penny, a Ferris wheel ride, learning that the city of Miami was named after the Mayaimi tribe, laps run in eighth grade gym, and all those fleeting feelings of déjà vu we readily dismiss rolled into four minutes and fifty-one seconds.

It’s haunting, disorienting, and comforting all at once, something like how I imagine being wrapped in a cocoon made of cirrus clouds must feel. Or hope.

[Buy Our Brother The Native, Myspace]