On “Fluid,” The Quite Smiles’ latest single, the band meditates on the nature of life from the unlikeliest of sources — and gets folk-rock-funky with it. The Quiet Smiles have a poetic way of doing things, so I’ll let them tell their own story:
Two lone travelers crossed paths in the dense jungles of Borneo, each carrying a backpack with bandannas and band-aids, toothbrushes and tattered bus passes alongside tales of hazy Laotian dope utopias and ancient shrines reclaimed by virile mangrove roots.
With an undying wanderlust, The Quiet Smiles make organic music that is soft yet rough, mysterious yet bright, curious yet unwavering.
The new song “Fluid” begins with a lazy, idyllic harmony before building in intensity. Greg Barr’s earthy vocals hold the song down, while Soo Hye Elaine Lee’s lilting voice speak to the tension between living life in the real world and following our whims. As the song progresses from burnt-out hippie strumming to something far greater than the sum of its parts, Lee breaks her violin from the mood, seamlessly transitioning between country fiddling to modern classical flights of fancy before coming to rest.
And they got all of that out of a silly moment in a cafe. Barr explains:
“Inspired by one’s elbow slipping off the thigh while sitting at a cafe, Fluid approaches one, the other, and the space between with a curious mind, creating a wholesome harmony of whimsical vocal melodies and lighthearted yet committed instrumental groove.”
The Quiet Smiles — Bandcamp