Music / Features
Track by Track:
Secret Knives - Snuff
Secret Knives - Snuff
Secret Knives' long-awaited new album Snuff is a striking addition into the pantheon of experimental bedroom pop, and we had the mastermind behind it, Wellington multi-instrumentalist Ash Smith, talk us through each of the album's tracks.
I still remember the moment when I heard (Sandy) Alex G for the first time, such was the sheer enormity of this musical discovery. This man - my contemporary - had recently released DSU on Bandcamp and it would not be destined to become a minor curio that can befall majestic works on that dense website. DSU was the catalyst for Alex Giannascoli’s rise to indie rock royalty, a generational talent as he is.
I begin the article with this detail because a very similar feeling was borne from my first listen to Secret Knives’ latest album, Snuff. The solo recording project of Wellington’s Ash Smith, the multi-instrumentalist has crafted a compilation of intricate experimentation, rich in lyricism that remains in the listener’s mind long after the song has finished.
Where Giannascoli uploaded an astounding amount of material to Bandcamp - and on an overwhelmingly consistent basis no less - Smith first made waves in 2010 with his bedroom pop creation Affection, before effectively disappearing into the musical hinterland. Instead, he spent much of the previous decade assisting other acts like Grayson Gilmour, Shocking Pinks, and Over The Atlantic, and didn’t provide anything new of his own until 2017 with the EP My Capriccio. His next full-legnth Snuff, however, is worthy of the wait.
This is Smith’s operation but he’s well-aided by contributions from Cory Champion (Borrowed CS) and Charlotte Forrester (Womb). There are gorgeous production details throughout - Smith making use of his many effects and pedals to construct his vivid visions. When you think album opener ‘Spinning Top’, for example, is melting into a melancholic ballad, he engineers a sudden crescendo, repeating the word “snuff” amidst an electro-synth mirage. Similarly, ‘Simple Bliss’ begins motivated by a pondering piano before Smith introduces some contrastingly scuzzy feedback; each song on Snuff is a sonic travail into the unknown. 'Fall' reduces the atmosphere to an aching sadness, a song that one could imagine coming from one of Sufjan Stevens’ electronic albums.
When one steps back from the instrumental experimentation to consider the lyrics, a lot of interest appears - it’s an excellently written album, Smith displaying an impressive ability to switch between overt emotion and thick imagery.
Water is a recurrent theme in the album. On ‘Excess’, Smith cries “I used to have a fear of drowning/Now it looks like sweet relief/I used to have a fear of drowning/Now it looks like sweet release!”; likewise he ponders “Should I cede to the wave?” on ‘Cruel Optimism’. Water, that powerfully symbolic element, is always placed in relation to its overwhelming effect on Smith. A sense of suffocation is clear, wherever it may stem from.
Emotion and melancholia is always bubbling at the surface. ‘Imposter Syndrome’ could be a millennial anthem, Smith singing of being “envious and doused in doubt/a right-time right-place charlatan”. On ‘Flush’, an early 90's indie-rock inflected piece, he wails, “I’m sorry I’m not the son you imagined/Doling out crumbs of affection.” This is an album hued with the influences of the aforementioned Giannascoli and Elliott Smith, while remaining a singular creation that deserves a far wider audience.
To return to (Sandy) Alex G and Bandcamp briefly - artists like Giannascoli are an anomaly in the inordinate immensity of music on the internet. We are recommended an altogether stupendous amount of albums to listen to on Bandcamp - and other similar websites - to the extent that one can become disillusioned after spending their time listening to many raw works of varying quality. The search for that excellent musical discovery can be draining, and talented musicians like Smith often slip through the proverbial cracks. However, when you find an album like Secret Knives’ that will be played in future on repeat, it’s worth being thankful for it (Melburnians will be familiar with this feeling through the ecstatic but tragic genius of Bored Nothing, who rose to prominence on Bandcamp in the 2010s).
And for an album with the title Snuff, which means of course to extinguish or put a stop to something, one can only hope - given the quality of this work - that Smith isn’t referring to his Secret Knives project. Seven more years would be seven years too long.
To dig a bit deeper into the new album, we had Smith talked us through each of Snuff's tracks.
I begin the article with this detail because a very similar feeling was borne from my first listen to Secret Knives’ latest album, Snuff. The solo recording project of Wellington’s Ash Smith, the multi-instrumentalist has crafted a compilation of intricate experimentation, rich in lyricism that remains in the listener’s mind long after the song has finished.
Where Giannascoli uploaded an astounding amount of material to Bandcamp - and on an overwhelmingly consistent basis no less - Smith first made waves in 2010 with his bedroom pop creation Affection, before effectively disappearing into the musical hinterland. Instead, he spent much of the previous decade assisting other acts like Grayson Gilmour, Shocking Pinks, and Over The Atlantic, and didn’t provide anything new of his own until 2017 with the EP My Capriccio. His next full-legnth Snuff, however, is worthy of the wait.
This is Smith’s operation but he’s well-aided by contributions from Cory Champion (Borrowed CS) and Charlotte Forrester (Womb). There are gorgeous production details throughout - Smith making use of his many effects and pedals to construct his vivid visions. When you think album opener ‘Spinning Top’, for example, is melting into a melancholic ballad, he engineers a sudden crescendo, repeating the word “snuff” amidst an electro-synth mirage. Similarly, ‘Simple Bliss’ begins motivated by a pondering piano before Smith introduces some contrastingly scuzzy feedback; each song on Snuff is a sonic travail into the unknown. 'Fall' reduces the atmosphere to an aching sadness, a song that one could imagine coming from one of Sufjan Stevens’ electronic albums.
When one steps back from the instrumental experimentation to consider the lyrics, a lot of interest appears - it’s an excellently written album, Smith displaying an impressive ability to switch between overt emotion and thick imagery.
Water is a recurrent theme in the album. On ‘Excess’, Smith cries “I used to have a fear of drowning/Now it looks like sweet relief/I used to have a fear of drowning/Now it looks like sweet release!”; likewise he ponders “Should I cede to the wave?” on ‘Cruel Optimism’. Water, that powerfully symbolic element, is always placed in relation to its overwhelming effect on Smith. A sense of suffocation is clear, wherever it may stem from.
Emotion and melancholia is always bubbling at the surface. ‘Imposter Syndrome’ could be a millennial anthem, Smith singing of being “envious and doused in doubt/a right-time right-place charlatan”. On ‘Flush’, an early 90's indie-rock inflected piece, he wails, “I’m sorry I’m not the son you imagined/Doling out crumbs of affection.” This is an album hued with the influences of the aforementioned Giannascoli and Elliott Smith, while remaining a singular creation that deserves a far wider audience.
To return to (Sandy) Alex G and Bandcamp briefly - artists like Giannascoli are an anomaly in the inordinate immensity of music on the internet. We are recommended an altogether stupendous amount of albums to listen to on Bandcamp - and other similar websites - to the extent that one can become disillusioned after spending their time listening to many raw works of varying quality. The search for that excellent musical discovery can be draining, and talented musicians like Smith often slip through the proverbial cracks. However, when you find an album like Secret Knives’ that will be played in future on repeat, it’s worth being thankful for it (Melburnians will be familiar with this feeling through the ecstatic but tragic genius of Bored Nothing, who rose to prominence on Bandcamp in the 2010s).
And for an album with the title Snuff, which means of course to extinguish or put a stop to something, one can only hope - given the quality of this work - that Smith isn’t referring to his Secret Knives project. Seven more years would be seven years too long.
To dig a bit deeper into the new album, we had Smith talked us through each of Snuff's tracks.
Spinning Top
“Some melt into the life
You draw my failures in such stark relief”
It’s a real patchwork song. There were so many iterations along the way - like a more ambient, droning version, one based around lots of chopped up vocal samples, one with guitar instead of piano, one with a really industrial coda. The final edit stitches parts of them all together.
The opening line speaks to that tendency to compare, and then be self-critical, which is often the seed of so much anxiety and dissatisfaction. The song is about this feeling of disorientation and a kind of manic unease that has no exhaust valve.
Simple Bliss
“I fear that I have just forgotten how far from the tree I’ve fallen
the simple bliss of giving in to all my basest impulses”
I think this is about tying yourself in knots over-thinking things, ignoring intuition and second guessing yourself, and maybe the importance of staying in touch with some more primal energy.
This one was the beginning of me trying to move away from familiar habits. It started on piano and avoids obvious guitar parts and melodies. I did put a sneaky riff in there though… because I don’t think I’d ever made a song with a riff before.
“Some melt into the life
You draw my failures in such stark relief”
It’s a real patchwork song. There were so many iterations along the way - like a more ambient, droning version, one based around lots of chopped up vocal samples, one with guitar instead of piano, one with a really industrial coda. The final edit stitches parts of them all together.
The opening line speaks to that tendency to compare, and then be self-critical, which is often the seed of so much anxiety and dissatisfaction. The song is about this feeling of disorientation and a kind of manic unease that has no exhaust valve.
Simple Bliss
“I fear that I have just forgotten how far from the tree I’ve fallen
the simple bliss of giving in to all my basest impulses”
I think this is about tying yourself in knots over-thinking things, ignoring intuition and second guessing yourself, and maybe the importance of staying in touch with some more primal energy.
This one was the beginning of me trying to move away from familiar habits. It started on piano and avoids obvious guitar parts and melodies. I did put a sneaky riff in there though… because I don’t think I’d ever made a song with a riff before.
Fall
“I think those things more times than I brush my teeth in a day.
Hands up, whose had thoughts like these?
Probably like trying to tally fallen leaves in autumn.”
I feel like writing songs can be a really self-absorbed thing… it can get quite solipsistic. I’m always paranoid about overusing ‘I’ in lyrics - but for me, songwriting is such an introspective exercise it’s hard not too! ‘Fall’ kind of tries to step outside that like, ‘I feel this way… but I think you might feel this way too?’. It’s trying to locate my feelings within a larger context.
When we were mixing, Jon always said it was his favourite. It’s pretty emotional and melodic, and juxtaposes this sweet melody with really dark lyrics. The kick’s on the offbeat, which was inspired by Portishead’s ‘The Rip’.
Imposter Syndrome
“Your voices
All is so sublime
What place do I have in their chorus?”
This began as an ambient track… it was just the guitar loop you hear at the beginning, but like four minutes of that. I was trying to make something with the same vibe as a Selected Ambient Works II track… but as usual I slowly introduced elements and it transformed into a pop song. I couldn’t commit to the minimalism!
The most affecting music moments I’ve ever had have been at local shows, or listening to local releases. This song is about being inspired by those immediately around you, but also a feeling of awe, and feeling dwarfed by their talent. Support your local scene!!!
No Psalms
“No more obsolete archaic dogma”
This song is about wishing many of the social constructs we inherit would collapse. So many of the ideas or “conventional wisdom” we’re conditioned with growing up are hurtful and alienate us from one another and ourselves.
The vocal loops in this track were really inspired by footwork like DJ Rashad and RP Boo - like really fast, percussive vocal loops. The song was another one where I was trying to escape the guitar.
Excess
“How long’s too long to hold a grudge?
Well, I’d know.”
Normally I don’t have a fixed idea what vibe I want a song to have, but this one was more derivative. I wanted something with the vibe of 'Vapour Trail' by Ride, and 'Torn' by Natalie Imbruglia… I guess I was more self-consciously trying to write a 90’s alt-rock/pop song, even though it doesn’t really have the classic big chorus. I don’t know why I can’t write choruses... I’m not sure I’ve written something I liked enough to repeat that much in a song. Love listening to ‘em… can’t write ‘em!
“I think those things more times than I brush my teeth in a day.
Hands up, whose had thoughts like these?
Probably like trying to tally fallen leaves in autumn.”
I feel like writing songs can be a really self-absorbed thing… it can get quite solipsistic. I’m always paranoid about overusing ‘I’ in lyrics - but for me, songwriting is such an introspective exercise it’s hard not too! ‘Fall’ kind of tries to step outside that like, ‘I feel this way… but I think you might feel this way too?’. It’s trying to locate my feelings within a larger context.
When we were mixing, Jon always said it was his favourite. It’s pretty emotional and melodic, and juxtaposes this sweet melody with really dark lyrics. The kick’s on the offbeat, which was inspired by Portishead’s ‘The Rip’.
Imposter Syndrome
“Your voices
All is so sublime
What place do I have in their chorus?”
This began as an ambient track… it was just the guitar loop you hear at the beginning, but like four minutes of that. I was trying to make something with the same vibe as a Selected Ambient Works II track… but as usual I slowly introduced elements and it transformed into a pop song. I couldn’t commit to the minimalism!
The most affecting music moments I’ve ever had have been at local shows, or listening to local releases. This song is about being inspired by those immediately around you, but also a feeling of awe, and feeling dwarfed by their talent. Support your local scene!!!
No Psalms
“No more obsolete archaic dogma”
This song is about wishing many of the social constructs we inherit would collapse. So many of the ideas or “conventional wisdom” we’re conditioned with growing up are hurtful and alienate us from one another and ourselves.
The vocal loops in this track were really inspired by footwork like DJ Rashad and RP Boo - like really fast, percussive vocal loops. The song was another one where I was trying to escape the guitar.
Excess
“How long’s too long to hold a grudge?
Well, I’d know.”
Normally I don’t have a fixed idea what vibe I want a song to have, but this one was more derivative. I wanted something with the vibe of 'Vapour Trail' by Ride, and 'Torn' by Natalie Imbruglia… I guess I was more self-consciously trying to write a 90’s alt-rock/pop song, even though it doesn’t really have the classic big chorus. I don’t know why I can’t write choruses... I’m not sure I’ve written something I liked enough to repeat that much in a song. Love listening to ‘em… can’t write ‘em!
Cruel Optimism
“Dreamt I were a silver man,
they melted me down and I were cast again.”
‘Cruel Optimism' is the title of a book by critical theorist Lauren Berlant… it’s this concept that our society clings to things - like cultural ideas and motifs - that promise good fortune, even though that idea in practice itself might actually harm us. So like, capitalism is accompanied by notions of meritocracy, freedom, upward social mobility… but in practice delivers oligarchy, wave slavery, entrenched inequality etc. But we’re invested in believing the lie, because the promise that it could be better tomorrow is the balm that soothes the wound. It has this line “why does each little victory feel like pulling teeth?”. I guess I was just expressing exhaustion at the grind and hustle of life, and the sense of not getting anywhere.
Snuff
“Ascetic boy’s all skin and ribs
There’s not much in this world for an idealist”
'Snuff' was this really restrained, delicate sketch when I demoed it… but over time I added more and more until it became this ornate, bombastic thing. Lyrically it feels really dark, and maybe I wanted to counter that with something musically which wasn’t such a bummer. Sometimes the process of writing a song improves my mood so the music turns more optimistic, but the kernel of the song is still this darkness. To me the song feels like a ship on the verge of capsizing… it’s kind of bloated, and was a nightmare to mix, but I also like that about it.
Flush
“So obtuse and distant
I’m flush with freedom I don’t know what to do with”
'Flush' is partly about reckoning with your own privilege. I definitely come from a privileged background and it’s about reckoning with this kind of stupid irony of feeling lost and adrift despite being dealt a winning hand, having a freedom no one should take for granted.
It’s got this slight back-to-basics vibe for me. I think I got worried I’d forgotten how to write a song, or hooks, so I pulled back to the guitar. To me it’s kind of a Pixies vibe - chill verses and then these noisy, expressive guitar lead parts.
Franny
“A room without mirror keeps my mind more pure”
Franny is a Salinger character. For years I had titled different demos 'Franny' as a reminder to myself to address the character lyrically. It was really resonant when I read it, and she has this brand of disaffection that feels very real. The song is about moving forwards and not getting so lost in the self. I wanted the end of the song to feel like some kind of absolution, like the self fragmenting and breaking up in the atmosphere at high speed. The lyric is just “fowards” but glitched and processed and glitched and processed over again until it becomes this abstracted textural thing.
“Dreamt I were a silver man,
they melted me down and I were cast again.”
‘Cruel Optimism' is the title of a book by critical theorist Lauren Berlant… it’s this concept that our society clings to things - like cultural ideas and motifs - that promise good fortune, even though that idea in practice itself might actually harm us. So like, capitalism is accompanied by notions of meritocracy, freedom, upward social mobility… but in practice delivers oligarchy, wave slavery, entrenched inequality etc. But we’re invested in believing the lie, because the promise that it could be better tomorrow is the balm that soothes the wound. It has this line “why does each little victory feel like pulling teeth?”. I guess I was just expressing exhaustion at the grind and hustle of life, and the sense of not getting anywhere.
Snuff
“Ascetic boy’s all skin and ribs
There’s not much in this world for an idealist”
'Snuff' was this really restrained, delicate sketch when I demoed it… but over time I added more and more until it became this ornate, bombastic thing. Lyrically it feels really dark, and maybe I wanted to counter that with something musically which wasn’t such a bummer. Sometimes the process of writing a song improves my mood so the music turns more optimistic, but the kernel of the song is still this darkness. To me the song feels like a ship on the verge of capsizing… it’s kind of bloated, and was a nightmare to mix, but I also like that about it.
Flush
“So obtuse and distant
I’m flush with freedom I don’t know what to do with”
'Flush' is partly about reckoning with your own privilege. I definitely come from a privileged background and it’s about reckoning with this kind of stupid irony of feeling lost and adrift despite being dealt a winning hand, having a freedom no one should take for granted.
It’s got this slight back-to-basics vibe for me. I think I got worried I’d forgotten how to write a song, or hooks, so I pulled back to the guitar. To me it’s kind of a Pixies vibe - chill verses and then these noisy, expressive guitar lead parts.
Franny
“A room without mirror keeps my mind more pure”
Franny is a Salinger character. For years I had titled different demos 'Franny' as a reminder to myself to address the character lyrically. It was really resonant when I read it, and she has this brand of disaffection that feels very real. The song is about moving forwards and not getting so lost in the self. I wanted the end of the song to feel like some kind of absolution, like the self fragmenting and breaking up in the atmosphere at high speed. The lyric is just “fowards” but glitched and processed and glitched and processed over again until it becomes this abstracted textural thing.
Snuff is out now through A Low Hum and Prison Tapes.
