I have a soft spot for interludes. Usually the shortest (and sometimes ignored) track on the album, they serve as a transitional piece of pace and mood; for me, as tracks to get lost in and to play on repeat. I’ve had this track on repeat since I first listened to it a few days ago.
Omar Apollo is a 22-year-old, first-generation Mexican-American. He dropped out of college to pursue music instead. He’s messed with a few genres: bass-filled funk, indie pop love songs, even a couple of bilingual songs — all of which he’s recorded and produced in an attic in Indiana for his debut EP,Stereo. With the release of his latest EP, Friends, Omar shows musical maturity and comes through with a few ballads.
“There For Me” is the somber interlude from Friends. An empathetic guitar ballad that becomes more expansive with every verse of emotional release. “Don’t waste your life ‘cause time is great,” he sings in the opening verse. Within just over a minute, we get hints of Omar’s background and influence: his falsetto and vocal runs evoke Mexican soul and his lyrics are touched with longing and reminiscence, themes that come easy for Omar. It took him less than ten minutes to write this song.
“I been feeling off / I’m a waste." Yeah, I feel that. Twenties are a weird time — your early twenties, at least. You’re scared of the “real world." Sometimes you feel like shit, sometimes fucking fearless. You feel like a baby at times, but given responsibility to defer slacking off. This song hits all ends of the ride. Omar touches on similar themes in “Trouble," another song off the EP and another favourite of mine.
Listen to the full EP here.
SIMILAR SONGS
