"For me it always comes down to what is a good song and I'm very old fashioned in the way that I like to make songs that have something classic about them whether you can play them with an orchestra or an electro synthesizer or an acoustic guitar"
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Almond is staking out an unfashionable position in a culture that treats production as personality: the song comes first, the sonic wardrobe second. That sounds modest, even nostalgic, but it’s a power move. By calling himself “old fashioned,” he preempts the critique that he’s out of step with whatever micro-trend is currently optimizing playlists. He turns “classic” from a dusty adjective into a stress test: a truly good song should survive translation.
The line about being playable “with an orchestra or an electro synthesizer or an acoustic guitar” isn’t just a list of textures; it’s a declaration of portability. Almond is talking about composition as infrastructure, something built to bear weight. Strip away the synth sheen and you should still have a melody, a harmonic shape, a lyric with a spine. It’s a subtle rebuke to music designed to flatter the medium: tracks that only work inside a specific mix, a specific era, a specific algorithmic mood category.
Context matters here because Almond comes from a career that’s moved through synth-pop glamour, cabaret melodrama, and orchestral grandeur. He’s lived the “production is the point” world and is insisting that craft outlasts the gear. The subtext is about authenticity, but not in the denim-and-guitars sense. It’s authenticity as durability: songs that can be re-costumed without losing their identity, that don’t collapse when the reverb tails change. In an age of disposable sound, Almond argues for writing that remains performable, not just streamable.
The line about being playable “with an orchestra or an electro synthesizer or an acoustic guitar” isn’t just a list of textures; it’s a declaration of portability. Almond is talking about composition as infrastructure, something built to bear weight. Strip away the synth sheen and you should still have a melody, a harmonic shape, a lyric with a spine. It’s a subtle rebuke to music designed to flatter the medium: tracks that only work inside a specific mix, a specific era, a specific algorithmic mood category.
Context matters here because Almond comes from a career that’s moved through synth-pop glamour, cabaret melodrama, and orchestral grandeur. He’s lived the “production is the point” world and is insisting that craft outlasts the gear. The subtext is about authenticity, but not in the denim-and-guitars sense. It’s authenticity as durability: songs that can be re-costumed without losing their identity, that don’t collapse when the reverb tails change. In an age of disposable sound, Almond argues for writing that remains performable, not just streamable.
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| Topic | Music |
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