Song of the Week: Basia Bulat, "5/4"

"5/4" is a just a singer with a guitar, live-recorded in open air, and yet it sounds incredibly rich and full. Part of that is Bulat's strong vocals. She's got that same subtle ability as Shearwater's Jonathan Meiburg to smoothly transition between multiple vocal tones, which she uses here to turn an airy folk-song verse into a piledriving chorus and get a lot of musical power out of the contrast.

After a few more listens, though, what really impresses is the guitar harmonies. That driving chorus riff is rhythmically strong and immediately memorable, and it would probably be easy as a songwriter to double down, strum the hell out of a few simple chords, and call it a fist-pumping song well done. But Bulat opens up entirely new layers by including some unexpected minor-key high notes in her guitar chords throughout, adding a twinge of sadness that pushes against the extroverted rhythmic power of the riff. The result is a single guitar that supports a range of emotional tones, and a song that sounds just as rich and full as what many bands get out of a roomful of instruments.

This video has the added virtue of catching a wonderfully concise depiction of someone becoming a new Bulat fan. Keep an eye on the guy in the green sweater after he first walks into the terrace at about 1:35. He's passing through, stops, clearly thinks he needs to keep going around 2:00, but can't help but get sucked in until the end of the song. Who knew how fun it would be to watch a convert in real time?