"Black Hole" is an indie-pop single in two movements. It unobtrusively opens with pensive lyrical imagery and the sound of paper ripping. If we're supposed to feel futile, it's working. By the time The Silent Years get around the second-stanza crusher, "Thought I saw someone drowning in the crystal waters of Lake Michigan/I threw 'em a life preserver but preservation is only temporary," you couldn't be blamed for thinking Isaac Brock (unrelated but, importantly, on my mind) was right when he suspected that he might (or might not be) the dark center of the universe. Like you thought.
The track grinds to a halt. Literally stops. You might be in a car at 6,500 feet, three hours outside Denver and say, "what?" to the CD player playing the mixtape that traveled 2,000 miles to get to that moment. But that was last week on the side of a mountain and this is now. And for every dark center of the universe, there's a "float on" moment where everyone hits the top 40, gets paid, and well, life's okay. And that's where The Silent Years end up. With an urgent piano tapping at us from the top of the keyboard and a ebullient, I'm From Barcelona guitar riff, "Black Hole" ends far more brightly than it came in. But maybe the brightness is only temporary. Equally. Easily.
Listen :: The Silent Years - Black Hole
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