This beautifully vulnerable tune comes with a ‘parental advisory’ warning. Directly inspired by one of the most touching trip hop songs of all time (yes, yes, Portishead’s “Roads”), “Rhodes” by Carlos Antonio emerges as a painful story of an uncomfortable intimacy in a closeted Queer relationship. Listening to its lyrics truly hurts, as it touches very deep emotions of shame which, as personal as they can only be, sometimes need to be dealt with outside of one’s comfort zone.
In Carlos’ own words: “As Queer people, we grow up so heavily criticized and nobody really teaches us to stand on our own two feet again — we sort of have to stumble our way back to ourselves, and that journey is not always beautiful or empowering.”
The arrangement of “Rhodes”, with its trip hop beat, and cinematic strings, begins with static noise of a TV set which directly corresponds to the song’s story-telling. “I liked the motif of the TV”, Carlos says, “because to me it speaks to all those external opinions in our heads (…). It feels incredibly voyeuristic and pornographic, and I wanted to capture that visceral feeling.”
In the end, the beauty of “Rhodes” lies in its honesty and treating the difficult subject in a way that makes one tremble with sadness and pure empathy. There is so much substance here that one listen is not enough. Play it on repeat, I dare you, and see if you can handle that unavoidable feeling of being unfairly trapped.
Photo: Press release
Great song, where are the lyrics though? 🎶