Letters from the Sky - Civil Twilight

The song Letters from the Sky by Civil Twilight is one of my favourite songs. It's very simplistically built, with a single chord progression being the basis of the entire song. The progression is not commercial, but it is powerful and works for the subject material. Its slow build makes the song even more appealing and powerful. Also, the singer, Steven McKellar, has an interesting voice, which adds to the emotional tone of the music. The instrumentation is also very simple, but still provides depth. There is a piano, guitar, bass, drums and synthesizer. The beginning with just piano and mild accompaniment and vocals adds to the emotionally charged nature of the piece. The style of this song is hard to peg. It's alternative, mixed with a little bit of rock and some Indie. The use of the Steven McKellar's falsetto range also adds to the piece. The breathy tone of his voice when he sings quietly is also very powerful. 

Civil Twilight is a band from South Africa that now works out of Los Angeles. It is a trio built of three members: Steven McKellar, his older brother Andrew McKellar, and their friend Richard Wouters. The McKellars grew up in a musical family, listening to music throughout their childhood and having a classically trained pianist as a mother. And Wouters was a childhood friend that wanted to start a band with Andrew McKellar when they were in their teens. When they discovered that Steven could write music and sing, they did a bit of instrument shifting and made a band together.

The song starts with a hushed synthesizer chord that sounds a bit like an organ. It builds with more synthesizer sounds and a unique piano chord progression. The vocals are very free and arrhythmic above the structure of the chords. The song gradually builds, adding guitar and heavy percussion which multiplies in dynamic level as the song slowly progresses to its climax. The vocals start out soft and breathless, but build to a stronger, firmer tone. The singer uses his falsetto range, which is very high and strained sounding; however, this tone of voice adds to the “realism” of the song. According to Steven McKellar, Letters from the Sky is just a “desperate, delusional love song”, and the timbre of his voice reflects this desperation. The song feels like it’s just spilling out of the singer. Again, the free vocal line and the way it moves over the chords makes it feel this way. It feels like he has a lot to say, and is just “spitting it out”, so to speak.

There’s a lot of emotion in this song too. For having such a simple structure, the song has amazing emotional depth. It’s so bittersweet and I feel the singer’s longing. I have a deep connection to the loneliness that this song portrays. When I listen to this song, I see a dead tree in the middle of a corn field after all of the corn has been harvested. It’s at the end of the day when the sun is going down, and the whole scene is bathed in a golden light. I’m not a hundred percent sure why, but since the texture of the song seems so expansive that would account for the field. It also feels really empty in parts, which lends itself to the emotions and images of loneliness the song evokes.

Letters from the Sky is a really interesting song. I enjoy the bittersweet sentiment of the piece and the simplicity of its structure. The build-up of layers makes it emotionally powerful and it evokes vivid images and feelings. I think this is a great song, and that everyone should listen to it!