The fact that we find ourselves in a largely post-genre world is something that the enigmatically titled Map of the Woulds has fully embraced. It is not so much that their music hops genre, at least not too radically, from song to song, but rather that their songs are so mercurial and so deftly crafted that they are hard to pin down in the first place.
“Goldilocks Zone” is the latest example of their ability to swerve, dodge, and duck easy categorization. Blending a folky, or at least folk-rock, finesse with chiming and charming indie guitar licks, understated rock drives, and a slightly psychedelic, slightly early-Bowie-esque wilful oddness, it is the musical equivalent of that ultra-cool outsider kid you knew at school, the one that you so desperately wanted to be, or at least be friends with.
And even that is an understatement regarding what is going on here; proggy structures abound, arabesque sonic motifs drift through, soulful interludes ebb and flow, and lyrically, they are on to something fascinating. The titular “Goldilocks Zone” is an astrophysical term for that sweet spot in a solar system where everything required for life to emerge is both present and perfectly balanced.
So not only does the song cleverly defy sonic expectation, but the tale of cosmic exploration, which may be human or perhaps metaphorical, and a musing on the universe’s seeding of potential life, makes for a very compelling, thought-provoking, and unique experience indeed.
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