Dallas based alternative rock band Quiet, Please have found their way into the hearts of a collective of fans in the relatively short time the trio have been together. Kevin, Brice and Dominik collectively share their real life experiences, striking a resonating chord with relatable lyrics and a sound that’s easy to embrace.
Quiet, Please released their EP An Attempt At Finding Myself in December 2016, but with the advent of a new era, have pulled the EP and have directed their attentions toward the future, with the release of their album The Ghost Inside My Head today (29th September).
The album features fresh renditions of tracks we know and love from An Attempt At Finding Myself, as well as brand new songs. I went track by track into the album, exploring all that Quiet, Please have brought to their music.
The album begins with “Cate”, and it feels like going inward in a reminiscing way; toward heartfelt melodies and sunsets. Slightly slurred vocals feel like a window into remembered experiences that feel blurred, bright, and fun. Post-chorus synth feels goosebumpy and celebratory.
“You’re my favourite song and I want to sing along
But I don’t know, don’t know
I don’t know how”
The band shared that “Cate” is to celebrate their friendship with a real life person by the name of Cate. The vibe is that Cate has been there for them, heartfully saying yes to experiences that life have brought them, even when things weren’t fantastic. There’s clearly a desire by the guys to celebrate Cate and the connection with her, and perhaps not feeling like they can do it justice. The ‘doo doo doo doo‘ build up feels like an unspoken “I love you”, and “I want to honour you and it feels like I never could because you’re the best”.
Second on the album is “DKWTG”. It captures a sense of escaping in a skin-crawling moment, wanting to go within but also feeling a tug of war between life and escapism. They are feeling attacked by criticism, practically grabbed by the throat, and questioning what is being created/shared.
“Their words come for me when I lay in bed at night”
The vibe of “DKWTG” is simple on the surface yet complex underneath. It captures a head awash with questions and not finding answers. It’s not easy to shake off the grips of the harsh words of others that poke at insecurities. Spoken words are left feeling like a curse.
Dissonant moments on the track feel like self-judgement; ‘You’re going to judge me? Well however harshly you can judge, I can do it even better.’ There’s a sense of being contained within this experience from all fronts. There’s no escape, and no clarity on where to go, hence the title.
The following track is “Solo Quiero Estar Solo” which translates to “I just want to be alone”. The track has a sassy vibe with spoken word and a piano based grooving beat. It is both in-your-face toward others and confrontational, as well as being a self-encouraging message.
“Life didn’t come with a guide”
It echoes “DKWTG” in expressing ‘Things are heavy now but I’m doing what I can, and I don’t care if you judge me’. I felt that this was a statement of ‘this is my imperfectness right now’ and ‘I’m doing it in my own way’. There’s a poke into self-mocking about being ‘okay’, and despite the heaviness of topic, the guys are clearly having a good time exploring this.
“Chapter XIX” (“Chapter 19”) shares feelgood riffs and optimistic beats with a sunny afternoon melody. It says “I don’t know where I’m going but I’m on the cusp of something, and it doesn’t include you”. It feels like things went sour, and there’s a drive to shake this off. Hope still exists even though it’s heavy.
This seems to be the story that’s being told after surfacing from emotional pain, now with clarity and wanting to direct their attentions into themselves and their own needs, as opposed to having their state of well-being tangled up in another person that is causing them discomfort/harm. Spoken word honesty tells the experience about the crumbling of the situation and how it rendered them vulnerable to it.
“I need to get you out, I’ve got to get up”
Next is “2005 Pontiac Sunfire” and it’s an opportunity for relaxation. It feels like warmth and sunshine, waking up cold skin, shrugging off winter and rolling into warmth and ease. It may be ‘just a car’, but it’s a metaphor for feeling chilled, free, alive, open to life. This track is about soaking up the smells and sounds and tastes of summer, finding unexpected joy dropped into their lap.
“Got my shades on, I’m cruising down the street, ain’t nobody gonna stop me today”
It’s so exciting to get a new version of “Flowers” with The Ghost Inside My Head! Similarly to “2005 Pontiac Sunfire”, “Flowers” shares excitement and freedom, driving away from drama, friendship and just rolling with life, leaving the old and stagnant behind. It’s all about fun and spontaneity, vibrancy and trying not worry about the difficult things while they are momentarily shut out. Zipping synthy vibes add to the sense of escapism, as do the repeated lyric/chorus. Just to not care, and be free. There’s a skin-crawling feeling at the thought that they will eventually need to come back to reality and face life, but if they keep doing this, maybe they can avoid it…?
“The Escape” captures a quest to no longer feel so lost, scared and messy. It’s searching for that freedom, and trying to stay positive, while also feeling the stress of ‘what am I going to do?’.
Despite the cheery synth sound on this upbeat track, “The Escape” expresses a sense of being lost and spiraling downward. When I was listening to the track I noted the sensation: ‘I’m incredibly overwhelmed but I don’t want you to worry about me (but I secretly do want you to worry)’. Echoed vocals after the chorus also reflect this sense of feeling lost.
“I’m looking for a place to find a piece of mind and I don’t know why”
As the song goes on, it feels like even greater struggle. Feeling anxious, struggling to breathe and being struck down in negativity. A rapid stream of spoken word feels like a release of pressure that has built up within, along the lines of “Who am I and what the fuck am I doing here?” They are painting over their fears with “I’ll be fine” even while not believing it. As “The Escape” ends, its instrumental section with echoed vocals and “yeah!” “woo!” seems to express that music itself has created the escape that they were seeking all along.
I love “Note”, old and new. It makes a statement of: “I’m doing my best here, life is hard, every single day. You have no idea how hard it is. It feels like there’s no way out.”
The new version of “Note” starts out with the same jaunty piano and Brice’s semi-spoken expressive vocals. But at the 30 second mark “Note”‘ goes beyond the original, changing an instrumental section into a semi-psychadelic and bass groove shift into a new lyric that is so damn catchy, it was firmly embedded after one listen.
“I have to fight what’s in my head
Defeat the parts that want me dead
So I can breathe again”
The new lyric proudly wears the hat of being a chorus in what was a chorus-less song. It works and I’m hooked, no question. New “Note” plays more with echo effects and synth giving a multi-dimensional vibe to what’s being shared, capturing losing oneself to dark thoughts. The closing (previous) instrumental section has also given Brice room to vent a fire-filled raging of the same lyric from “Note”.
Quiet, Please shared that “Blue Skies & Sunshine” is for ‘you’. They mean the fans, the listeners, the supporters of the music and the people that genuinely connect with their music, and those that feel similarly to them at times. It feels like it’s unfolding at sunset duskiness, capturing a tender moment of introspection, letting oneself drop into heartache for a moment, not escaping right now.
“I wish we could all be happy, singing of blue skies and sunshine”
The chorus pulls away from that though, wishing that it was all just happiness. It is a goosebump inspiring reaching out to listeners, wanting the best for everyone. This beautiful track says ‘We’re all in this together’, and the trio make music to help others in the way that music also helps them.
The album closes with “Class Of ’17 (Imissyou)”. It captures the loss of what’s known and a feeling of fear with leaning into a new chapter. Especially when everything you knew before was so good, or at least very well known. This track is such a solid anthem, and an ode toward all that happened, trying to bravely move forward.
There’s so much to love about The Ghost Inside My Head. The album captures the essence of how life is right now for Brice, Kevin and Dominik, and they’ve poured that realness into sound for anyone that wishes to embrace it.
