A few days ago, my bad habit of narrating my favorite tracks while showing them off to my friends led me to a jarring conclusion sparked by my most recent fixation, Cathedrals’ “Harlem.” While introducing the track, I selfishly talked over the song in an attempt to pinpoint what about it draws me in so profoundly.
It’s upbeat, with an eclectic set of sounds on a continuous roll into the next portion of the song, lacking enough repetition to cause boredom.
I stopped mid-thought (fortunately for my company) when I realized that the reasons I cited for enjoying the song fit harmoniously with the characteristics of a textbook digital generation millennial: impatient, easily bored, stubbornly convinced of both our need and our ability to multitask. And my need to compete with the track for attention was the neat bow tying it all together.
My discomfort in realizing that my musical interests may be guided by an unoriginal and predictable formula is still haunting me, but isn’t it too fitting that I make it all about me?
Shelving my identity crisis, the San Francisco duo Johnny Hwin and Brodie Jenkins seem to be 2-for-2 on what they’ve shared so far. “Harlem,” full and fast with a dash of dry humor, was preceded only by “Unbound,” the group’s cool and somber first release. As the strategy goes, the group has sparingly dropped the blood in the water but is patiently waiting to draw a crowd before a full release.