“As a kid, I lived near a river in the rain-forests of Bolivia“. That’s how Ben Hardesty, front-man for The Last Bison starts to explain the meaning behind their voluptuously gorgeous indie-rock new track Gold. “It was said that gold flakes would make their way down the river, and if you were lucky enough, you could pan them out. I was four years old when my parents took us from the swamps of Virginia to the jungles of South America”. Those childhood memories influenced him to write a song that creates in the listener a vivid overflow of melodies that are pretty easy to connect to his feelings of discovering a river made of gold. That gold metaphor is also used to a lot of other feelings portrayed in the song. Like the feelings of remembering certain details in a relationship but in the end thinking of it as the good times that stay in the memory.
In the gorgeous looking video of Gold, Hardesty, Benfante and Housworth are pretty cool sitting and singing around on a pink room with some nice sofas and plants until someone throws an orange and everything gets more electric. Hardesty love for a plant also seems evident when liquid gold starts covering all kinds of objects until Housworth cello somehow inverts all events. As illogical as it looks it also feels humorous, powerful and works like charm.
The song itself is very easy to party along, perfectly combining the indie rock guitars, simple synths and light-rock drums with Hardesty inviting vocals. Like a prodigal child of Foals and Glass Animals, the track contagious hooks and variations make it as catchy as it gets. In addition, the very clever way the vocals always sound pumping and natural on top of all the melodies is something very rare to achieve. In the end, Gold does not sound distant or like an imaginary reward. Instead, it sounds instantaneously precious and flowing. Just like that river Hardesty remembers so well.
Gold if the first single from The Last Bison latest album SÜDA (Estonian for heart). For more on the band follow them on the links below:
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