A new single has recently surfaced from an artist I have seen live, streamed on Apple Music and wished I had a physical copy to play in my car. Catching Flies is the song’s name,St.Arnaud is the artist in the spotlight, and I plan to gush ebulliently about the single until the album drops in April.
St.Arnaud brings together a smooth as silk vocal delivery, primo music to carry the song along and witty turns of a phrase in the lyrics. For example,
the narrator in the song, Catching Flies, moves from “I’ve been taking my pills most days” to “I’ve been taking my pills some days” in the middle of the song and ends with “I’ve been looking for pills some days.” That last one is ambiguous. Is he looking for the prescription pills he has lapsed in taking, or is he looking for some pills that don’t need a prescription? I don’t know for sure, but I lean towards the latter. I like that transition through the three phases of looking.
Another nifty little lyrical magic is the whole first stanza.
“Listen, what’s that little voice saying?
when we lie to ourselves,
hey everyone,
could we play pretend better?”
It reminds me of a line that we used in addiction counselling. “You can lie to yourself but don’t lie to me.” And then, after the lie is outed, we put on airs until we are challenged to “play pretend better.” Humans like to play pretend a lot, but we are not always good at it. Can “we lie to ourselves” and “play pretend better?” Intelligent lyrics like those immediately endear me to an artist.
The music that carries those lyrics to us is equally excellent. From gentle guitar phrases that open the song, it moves into a lilting melody joined by tasteful horns and soft percussion with a touch of what sounds like maracas. I can not find fault in any part of Catching Flies. St.Arnaud have delivered package containing a delightful listening experience. Thank you.

St.Arnaud – ‘Catching Flies’

https://www.facebook.com/StArnaudBand/

https://www.instagram.com/starnaudband

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https://open.spotify.com/artist/320bGhRu3ZAem1ZWjXmRA5

https://soundcloud.com/starnaudband/catching-flies-1

https://open.spotify.com/track/1UMccHhxrlCNEMPb1aBLrB?si=b7678eb2387d4b34