Each Measure Feature: Carson Aday

FEATURE

Carson Aday has just released his quiet new rock single, “Without You Around.” It captures an all too familiar moment of paralysis—the one where you’ve realize a relationship is no good for you and still, you can’t bring yourself to give it up.

“Without You Around” was engineered by Nick Tveitbakk and produced by Scott Ayers and Carson Aday. With Aday on vocals and e-piano, Jonathan Peace on drums, and Payton Seiler on bass, the song pays tribute to the 90s post-punk era. Parallels to Nirvana’s “Something in the Way” are apparent in the tone and mix of this single.

Repetition is the bread and butter of this track. Somber keys and a simple bass guitar riff play almost unchanging throughout the entirety of the song. Even the melody of the topline is unwavering. As Aday sings “I’m sick of laying on the ground without you around” in the verse and “pain’s the only thing I found without you around” in the chorus, the melody is identical. The only reprieve he grants the listener is a boost of intensity in the chorus.

Aday’s vocals, deep and moody in the verses, are mixed to an almost lifeless whisper. However, when he reaches the chorus, he lifts the vocals an octave higher, he is drawn forward in the mix, and the previously barely-there drums snap to attention. This dance between repetition and dynamic intensity gives the listener a sense that Aday is both stuck in a futile thought loop and experiencing swells of emotion over his predicament.

“Without You Around” is a tune for the resignedly despondent. It might easily be the soundtrack to your own incurable musings.

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