“Voices In My Head” by Sp8ce Owl

There are a lot of different elements that make up the melodic fabric of “Voices In My Head” by Sp8ce Owl. The winds, the strings, the percussion, the vocal that emits no lyricism but circles all around us – all of these components share something incredible with us that makes the song as amazing as it is. Though its appearance is subtle and brief, the initial harmony that we hear close to the start of the song is as essential to Sp8ce Owl’s recipe for sheer magic as anything else is, and even when the wind parts are grabbing us by the chest near the finish line, they never overpower the opposing instrumental faceting here at all. 

Sp8ce Owl’s new single is all about bringing together the complicated with the simple in a sonic storm of epic proportions, but it isn’t as chaos-laden as its very concept might appear on paper. This is his song through and through, but without the ode to some of the more tribal influences being incorporated in this arrangement, I don’t think “Voices In My Head” would feel like a complete piece. He gives it a light hue through the compositional elements that balances the dark overtones in the music like nothing else could, and the smooth vocal makes the harmony in the middle of the track even harder to turn away from. 

The winds are a little louder than they need to be in “Voices In My Head,” but aside from this one issue, I can’t think of any overt cosmetic faults that could hold this song back from being a big hit for Sp8ce Owl and the experimental movement both. Muscly melodies have been all the rage on the American side of the border lately, and if he was trying to go for something similar here, the route he took wouldn’t just make sense – it would be excusable altogether. In either case, this is still a high-quality composition (and an ambient lover’s treat without dispute). 

It will be really interesting to hear if and how Sp8ce Owl plays this song live. The versatile framing of the beats, the easygoing nature of the song as a whole, and even the appearance of some of the more rigid elements in the mix – all of it can be reshaped for the stage depending on how he wants to take the music on. There hasn’t been nearly enough compositional flexibility in modern pop as there should be, but through the efforts of indie players like this one, we could see a difference in this new decade unlike any we experienced in the last. 

A simple single with some very dreamy yet angular harmonies, you’re not likely to hear another song quite like the new single from Sp8ce Owl this October. “Voices In My Head” has the right stuff to make a big impact on either side of the dial this coming winter, and something tells me it’s going to be a particularly notable hit with indie audiences craving a sound alternative to the mainstream. Sp8ce Owl has just that here, and he isn’t shy about making sure everyone knows how remarkably invested he is in his work when listening to this or any of the music he’s released to date. 

Mindy McCall