It would be easy to get lost in the hazy luminescence of so much pastel atmosphere, of billowing synths softly overlapping like so many impressionist brushstrokes. After all, Skybison mastermind Dylan Banks has displayed a knack for enveloping his listeners in airy ambience, sometimes at the expense of his subject matter. But with his latest single, “Envisage,” Banks goes heavy, grappling with the thorny politics of personal responsibility. The track opens with a sermon eulogizing the death of Martin Luther King, Jr., a speech that stands in stark relief against the song’s diaphanous textures. The result is an aura of tension that helps draw attention to Banks’ windswept vocals: “I’m troubled with the notion / that this may never work,” he sings—a feeling that, in context, is far more exhausted than contentious.
However, if you were to say “Envisage” provokes a certain spirit, it would be one of rising above. Banks sings from the perspective of someone who is tired of “going through the motions” and waiting for life to offer something different. Given the song’s fiery opening, this presumably means getting away from the destructive cycle of divisiveness and apathy that informs our current social and political landscape in order to, as he puts it, “sail to higher grounds.” It’s a simple sentiment, but also a potentially powerful one. The songs ends with the refrain “All is not lost” repeating over a calming wind built on chiming bells and dreamy synths; it’s a would be platitude that is transformed into something of a galvanizing plea, indicating that even in the darkest of times, hope can be the strongest motivator.
Listen below.
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