Song of the Week #2: Cecile Believe, "ponytail"
Stuttering synth chords, dreamy bass lines, and ponytails whipping from daddy's Benz
Earlier this week I sat in a café in Palo Alto, the city I’m being hosted by my bestie Arun (shout out to you!). The downtown area is quaint and has a good coffee shop I can recommend: Verve Coffee Roasters (it’s a chain but does good coffee nonetheless.)
At the café, I was ruminating over what songs have been stuck with me over the past year. Mindlessly opening YouTube, a new video emerged on my recommended videos by artist-producer Cecile Believe.
The music video was DIY, featuring five friends cruising in and around Los Angeles, which actually reminded me a lot of the car trip to Lechuza Beach I took with Vanessa, and her three friends last week. That was a blast.
Cecile’s video is split-screen, and alternates between extreme close-ups of Cecile whipping her ponytail out of the window, wide-angle shots from the windscreen showing her and her friends in the car, and fading vistas of Southern California highways as the day turns to night:
Cecile Believe is the artist name of Canadian songwriter, artist, and producer Caila Thompson-Hannant, based in Los Angeles. Cecile Believe first came to my attention through the lockdown pandemic performance she contributed to 7 by 7, a Zoom event leading up to the release of A. G. Cook’s album 7G. I loved that performance. She also acted as the vocalist on “Show Me What,” a vocal chop extravaganza I recommend checking out, in case I haven’t annoyed you about it already.
In addition to her solo work, Cecile Believe collaborated extensively with the late, visionary producer SOPHIE (1986–2021). Cecile’s creative work can be heard on SOPHIE’s critically acclaimed album Oil of Every Pearl’s Un-Insides. On that album, Believe acted in various capacities, from co-writer to co-vocalist and general creative partner. Rumor has it that Cecile Believe’s vocals will also feature on SOPHIE’s upcoming posthumous album, about which you’ll be hearing more in the future…
What do I like about this song?
“Ponytail” opens with a wobbly organ sound, setting a tone that is soon lifted by fluttering, plucked synths that echo across the stereo field. A Serum bassline reminiscent of A. G. Cook’s instrumentation lends the song a rich, booming low end. The paired down drums in the chorus place the vocals front-and-center, whose lyrics evoke a sense of impending doom (“The world didn’t end but it feels like it’s going to”). A chopped vocal at the precipice of the final chorus (2:25) sets the stage for the final chorus which is not anthemic but has an introspective, almost ambient, feel.
If you like this song & you’re interested in learning more about the background of how it came about, check out this recent interview with Cecile Believe in Vogue Magazine. “Ponytail” is the second single teasing Cecile Believe’s upcoming EP, titled Tender the Spark, a record worth checking out when it releases on August 8th.
Especially if you’re a SOPHIE fan.