First visit to these pages from Augustine although I’ve come across him several times previously and one of the things I’ve noticed about him is that he’s a thoughtful sort of chap, given to pondering subjects like change and its impact, as he did on the previous track I covered, ‘Prom’, earlier this year.
This track, ‘Fragrance’, marks the last single he’s releasing from his debut album on 29th October and it continues a similar theme. He wants to move on, this time from a relationship, and seeks the courage to do that while still longing for the other half of that relationship, and being aware of their ‘fragrance’ even if it isn’t actually there. He’s caught up in something he can’t move on from despite his adoption of a ‘cold heart’.
Continuity, the antithesis of change, is represented throughout the song by a distorted bass sound and simple common time drum beat. Juxtaposed against that is an interesting line about indecision concerning whether or not to get off a subway train in a station she/he lives close by and buy her/him something for dinner. It brought to mind Christine and the Queens’ line “Here’s my station” about her indecision as to whether or not to help a young boy who is being bullied while travelling sur le Metro. She doesn’t, and regrets it. Augustine’s dilemma is not so severe, but it has an impact nonetheless.
Augustine sings in his usual falsetto voice throughout although on this occasion it is not so noticeable against the bass and percussion sound. I’ve observed previously that while some highly successful vocalists such as Prince, Jeff Buckley and the Bee Gees sang falsetto it is still fairly rare and can be risky. I saw him perform at By: Larm a couple of years ago and in a live performance on the night in a small claustrophobic venue with a boisterous, macho crowd it didn’t quite work. But I’ve got used to it now and to be fair it suits songs like this perfectly well.
Let’s see what the album brings. What he’s produced so far promises much.
I’d normally provide social media links here but at the time of writing both Facebook and Instagram are down!
