PopUp!
One test of Trance music is whether it will get you dancing. So, I wrote something short, sharp and popping to do just that. Does it make me want to get up and dance? Yep. Sure does.
It’s called PopUp! because that’s the vocalizing sounds like. The vocalizing is “chanter en yaourt” – or singing in yoghurt – the French phrase to describe vocalizing that sounds like but isn’t actually English. But to me it clearly sounds like “pop up”. The composition is very simple and short – just under 4 minutes. But often it’s the short, simple pieces that are the hardest to get right, and you’re stuck on what to take away rather than on what to add. That’s the advice of singer-songwriter St. Vincent: Finally, take something away, something that is merely your darling and favourite thing, and not essential to the song. In that, she is thinking along the same lines as the French author of The Little Prince, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, who said:
“Il semble que la perfection soit atteinte non quand il n’y a plus rien à ajouter, mais quand il n’y a plus rien à retrancher.”
Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, Terre des Hommes (1939)
“Perfection is finally attained not when there is no longer anything to add, but when there is no longer anything to take away.”
Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, Terre des Hommes (1939), Canonical English translation by Lewis Galantière
To be honest, I took away a great many instruments, stems and frills from this song. If I learned one thing from writing this little song, it is to keep it simple and singable. It’s no. 2 on my album that will hopefully be completed in the first half of this year, called Armin2016.