And now your editor will summarily ruin this song for you…
[Video]
[6.50]
Will Adams: “The Gold” strikes an impressive balance between expansiveness and clarity, and it’s thanks to Catherine Marks’s production. The vocal harmonies are tied off with a twine of reverb, but the drums and guitars remain crisp and up-close. The contrast is enough to hold interest, but when it all falls away to leave Andy Hull, the song becomes weightless for a few fleeting seconds.
[7]
Alfred Soto: The drumming has caffeine in it, the singer manages a semi-convincing angst when he sings the chorus. So why don’t I give a damn? Blame the vanilla frosted donut production.
[5]
Katherine St Asaph: For all the hand-waving freakoutery about women and their oh-so-distracting “indie voice” — a non-phenomenon invented by a BuzzFeed thinkpiece — one wishes there was comparable freakoutery about men who sing like Adam Young or, on verse two here, Gilbert Gottfried. Though the folk-sync track, which builds an over-dense cocoon of research around the same hollow “girls are crazy/shallow like day-drinking/only think they’re in love” condescension, wouldn’t appeal even if unruined.
[4]
Hannah Jocelyn: There’s one moment here, around 3:10, that wins me over every time. As Andy Hull sings “I believed you were crazy”, the “cra” continues in a long-decaying reverb, while -“zy” is just tossed aside, like slowing a sentence mid-outburst. It’s subtle but indicative of how thoughtful the production and lyrics are here. Catherine Marks’ mix may sound too slick for some, but there are enough flourishes and details to show how much effort was put into this song. I had no idea about the lyrics’ narrative until I read an interview where Hull explains the plot. Story songs can have completely unrelated inspirations, but this is a legitimately fascinating background — the titular gold is not a metaphor, but it does tie into larger themes of internal conflict and loss. Why don’t more contemporary bands use the gold rush as inspiration, anyway? There’s Coldplay in a whimsical deep cut, but not much else directly inspired by the time period. Now I want to read about gold rush miners. And become an A&R person that sets Marks up with every band.
[9]
Tim de Reuse: The verses feature measures of 6/8 in groups of three that tumble after each other, locked in place by a heavily syncopated groove and a two-against-three hemiola from the guitar: a metrically complex and structurally unusual arrangement for the genre, but an engaging space to let your attention jump through. It gets more straightforward towards the back half both lyrically and instrumentally, but all sounds snappy and clear, and despite the slightly overblown finale the momentum still carries through to the end. Semi-legendary producer John Congleton was apparently involved, which makes a lot of sense, since that guy could mix a mud puddle and make it sound clean.
[8]
Edward Okulicz: It’s certainly a fantastic-sounding track — very lean but also quite rich. The moment where the music cuts out to give space for the harmonised “I believed you were crazy” line is quite exquisite, and it’s something of a disappointment that when it recurs with the music in the background it’s all a bit much, and the rest of the song isn’t quite enough.
[6]