Ahead of his forthcoming full-length album Rocky Mountain Low, former Forestry Division man André Costello gives us a taste of what’s to come with “Background Actor.” And if a song that echoes both with the cool of Neil Young at his most delicate and Donovan at his least whimsical doesn’t pique your interest, then perhaps you should go back to your Oasis albums.
Exploring the phenomenon of imposter syndrome, he gives us a song that is both gently addictive and lyrically relatable. (I certainly relate, sat here writing for international music platforms with just a go-to bag of long words and an unnecessarily large record collection, surely I’m going to get found out any day now!)
“Background Actor” is great. It pushes its way out of the singer-songwriter territory and into a more band-driven sound simply by layering up the guitar lines, dressing the core rhythms with chiming sonic shards and charming motifs, over-driven electric riffs, and heavenly vocal descants.
It’s a song that feels strangely out of time, certainly tipping its hat to the late 1960s but reimagined by someone with both feet in the modern age, and one that’s certainly a modern studio production. Neither here nor there, timeless perhaps yet still perfect for then, now, and every point in between.
A “Background Actor” is gentle rather than forceful; it wins the listener over through persuasion rather than power, with poise and purpose rather than volume and velocity. Yet, it builds plenty of musical dynamics as it progresses, keeping things intriguing and interesting.
Intrigue and interest? What more could you ask of a single?
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