This Is Our Jam: CANT, “Answer”

Chris Taylor is a busy guy. Besides playing in Grizzly Bear, Taylor runs Terrible Records and has produced albums for Twin Shadow, Blood Orange, and The Morning Benders (as well as his own band). And now, in addition to all that, Taylor is dropping a solo album under the pseudonym CANT. “Answer,” the first single off the upcoming Dreams Come True LP, is something of a distillation of Taylor’s work behind the boards. The song was made with the help of Twin Shadow’s George Lewis Jr., and exists in the same realm of darkly romantic synthpop that both Twin Shadow and Blood Orange have both explored in different ways. “Answer” is a bit more stripped-down than either of those projects, with smooth synths, vocal distortion, and a hollow dance-floor-ready rhythm. The aesthetic feels in-line with the recent wave of VHS revivalism and analog haze that has come to dominate the blogosphere, but the numerous, carefully assembled elements would be equally welcome on a Kompakt compilation as an Altered Zones blog post. While nostalgia features prominently, the core of the "Answer" is a deft pop song, and for all Taylor's ‘80s electro-festishism and Cure-like emotionality the song is immediate and contemporary. One of my favorites of the year so far.