Caitlin Pasko ‘Favorite Dessert’

Olivia here. Today the UK awoke to the news that George Osborne, former Chancellor of the Exchequer, Conservative MP for Tatton, and professional human lookalike has been named as the new editor of the London Evening Standard. Which is perplexing to say the least, considering he has no journalistic experience since an unsuccessful application to The Times as a young man. It is also perplexing, that an MP should have time to undertake THREE paid jobs outside of his parliamentary duties, including a one day per week role as a financial advisor that pays a six figure salary, public speaking that pays £600,000 per year, and now this new editorial endeavour. It’s particularly grotesque that this is the absolute wet wipe who cut disability benefits by £1,560 a year and now earns 19 times that a week, as pointed out by Twitter user @Rachael_Swindon. This new appointment will also undoubtably give way to some interesting debate into the ethics surrounding politicians and the press – whilst of course politicians should be allowed to express their views in columns and articles, should they ever be allowed to take on editorial roles? Considering the long and fraught relationship between politics and the media (just look at Donald Trump if you don’t believe this is still a problem), this seems a little bit like inviting a snake to your child’s play pen. Or placing a large piece of dog shit on your evening paper. Anyway, this is clearly one of those days when I’m going to struggle to segue elegantly into the Track Of The Day, so I’m not even going to try, although I guess if you’re angry about the news, putting on the new EP ‘Glass Period‘ from Brooklyn songwriter Caitlyn Pasko, described on her bandcamp as ‘a small chapel to personal grief’. Exploring themes of tenderness and heartbreak, the music is loosely based around the Impressionism movement in art and culture whilst retaining the simplicity of modern songwriting; harking back to the work of Debussy through her  suggestive and unattached piano playing, and evoking the haziness of Impressionist paintings with her dreamy sound world. Particularly good is ‘Favorite Dessert‘, which explores the relationship between the mundane and the profound within heartbreak, with lyrics like “I’m walking up to your favourite dessert in the store / Now I am passing it by /This is letting you go”. Vocal harmony in monastic fifths add an eeriness to the track at the beginning, which eventually gives way to Pasko’s voice alone, in absolute fragility, signalling a ‘waking up’ from the haze mess of emotions and beginning to see the harsh reality around her – like rubbing the dust from your eyes to find you’re in a grocery store, all alone, looking at your ex’s favourite dessert. Enjoy.