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The two-chord vamp at the start of “Promise” will leave you wondering where it’s going if you are fortunate to be discovering the latest masterpiece from ‘Crash World’ for the first time. If you are a musician and you’ve grabbed an instrument already, you might be wondering if this will resolve to C major or E minor or somewhere else, and like any listener, you will be captivated by the undoubtedly haunting, almost chilling, sensation that it delivers.
If you’ve looked at the artwork already, that bunch of flowers will make you think of a funeral, maybe, but a broken marriage more likely. You are not expecting a happy fast-food kinda song here. This one is going to be a serious song. Then when those lyrics start with “There’s a halo in the trash can. Some feathers on the floor”, I hope you will stop what you are doing, remove distractions, and listen deep. For sure, you can just let the beautiful melody, soulful voices, and world-class musicianship wash over you, but you’ll get so much more if this has your undivided attention over many listens. So much more.
There’s pain expressed in those lyrics; and in their performance too. Listen to that groan over “I specialise in failure”; it is just devastating, as is the whole story when you follow it through. The idea of broken promises is so powerful, and it reveals the truth that someone who is controlled by their vices, often through mental illness, may be so painfully aware that they are dragging down more than their own lives. They are dragging down the people they love the most too, and this hurts more than anything because they feel powerless to do anything about it. Deep down, they may know that their promises to change are going to be broken even as they make them. Like I said, it’s a serious song this one, and it tells its story in the most extraordinary language, and with equally extraordinary music too…
If you are listening closely, you may notice a subtle harmonic shift over “got the best of me” - a kind of pivot chord, if you like. It leads to a gentle crescendo over “is it worth it” that has the feel of a pre-chorus. Something interesting has happened with the harmonies here… the two-chord vamp has been reversed, the melody has climbed and you anticipate something special. Then - boom; a perfectly timed block chord progression underpinned by a bass that you can reach out and touch surprises both in its intensity and in the Phrygian feel it projects before you land in the chorus…
Oh my word, that chorus. Everything seems to go that bit brighter over the word “Promise”. We are squarely in G major now and it feels uplifting. It feels to me like the moment you make a promise and for a while you really do believe it. It’s the only happy part of the song. Are they shifting the mood of the music to match the internal emotions of the song’s protagonist? This is astonishing songwriting and orchestration; even the beautiful vocal harmonies here are just so light and airy. It all ties up. Then as the harsh realities of the broken promises are anticipated we go through a pop-like progression that seems to want to land back on the major key but quickly establishes the original two-chord vamp. A subtle sparkling fill from the cymbals and a masterful Phrygian feeling acoustic guitar solo lead us back to the feel of the introduction and ready for a second journey. We have been taken on a powerful musical and emotional ride.
A second round of this amazing structure, with yet more lyrical brilliance (how about “Dust upon the bible, proof of just how far I’ve strayed”?), is no less absorbing than the first but leads to a magnificent crescendo for the outro that builds, almost explosively, into that final ‘resolution’. Musically we might be confirming that major key tonic but the last vocal note lands on the five and it feels so desperate to get back. It doesn’t. There is a musical tension here and a note of deep anguish in the voice - it’s unsettling, it’s brilliant. It’s Crash World, and it was always going to be good; but it’s more than that - it’s important.