Each Measure Feature: Chris Quesnel

FEATURE

Montreal-based artist Chris Quesnel takes you back to youthful love endeavors that made you feel butterflies, joy, and wholesome excitement with his new single “Cherry Chapstick.”

Quesnel's exceptional storytelling ability is showcased in "Cherry Chapstick" by the way the meter follows the narrative of the song. The song begins with a percussive tone that closely resembles the rhythmic patterns of a beating heart. As the song progresses and the melody starts to crescendo, that same rhythmic pattern begins to also accelerate, just like a juvenile heart feeling the highs of young love.

The song is masterful in the way that it is able to tell the inner strife of the person seeking refuge from the toils of love. While the mind of that person is dead set on reprieve, the immense pull of hormone-enraged emotion brings the protagonist and the listener right back to where they were. The song relies on emotions that are attached to artifacts like the well-known Chapstick taste and the transfixing motions of a vinyl spinning. The vehicles of emotion allow the song to transport the listener to the world Quesnel creates.

In the final part of the song, the melody erratically makes a 90’s era scratched disk skip, and the song repeats the line, “And I don’t wanna taste that fucking cherry chapstick no more.” This transported me back to old summer love that was supposed to only last that one summer, but the hooks of love, much like this song, kept taking us “back to where we were before.”

KEEP UP WITH CHRIS QUESNEL BELOW: