Gotye

When I think about Gotye, the first thing that comes to mind is a night back in 2006; it was a usual haze of aimless drinking in front of Rage at 2am. I remember watching the clip for 'Heart's A Mess' for the first time and being completely consumed in this odd yet enchanting song. The person watching it with me disagreed with my views and said that it was for lack of a better word, "shit." As Gotye developed, some were listening but others still weren't interested. I remember having a really hard time convincing my friends to see Gotye at Homebake in 2007 due to the unfortunate (for my friends) timetable clash with the hot new buzz band at the time, Cut Copy. I felt like it separated the idiots, but that's just my opinion. Someone once described the Cut Copy crowd as something not to dissimilar to a General Pants Christmas party and I'd have to agree.
Over time this reception changed and critical acclaim rightfully found its way to what I think was one of the best albums of 2006, Like Drawing Blood.

Late last year Gotye gave us something we'd all been waiting for, a brand new track! Wally did something that I respect in Australian music -- by not feeding off of the hype and trying to push out a new record as soon as possible to stay relevant. I find that a lot of bands these days seem eager to release new material as soon as they can to avoid working a day job. This usually results in the band burning out as opposed to progressing artistically over time.

'Eyes Wide Open' was the first single to emerge from the forthcoming LP and it was a fresh Spring favourite. However I can't help but feel this track has been overshadowed slightly by last weeks release, 'Somebody That I Used To Know' featuring Melbourne up and comer Kimbra. To put it bluntly, this shit is real. If I could make a list of everyone who has since shared this track on my facebook and Twitter, I'd be here all night and I have some drinking to do.
It's the perfect combination of the eerie eccentric sounds we've come to expect from Gotye and the right amount of lyrical depth. There's a perfect middle ground where Conor Oberst and Star Wars dialogue meet -- it's a place where sad and simple come to marry; it's not too dreary but it's relatable because we've all dated that emotionally backward shit this song alludes to. I can see the status update quotes now, really, I'm looking at one.

With the release of this single I'm spastic with excitement for the new album. Gotye is really one of Australia's more revolutionary acts and it seems to change the way I think about electronic music every time I listen.

Listen to 'Somebody That I Used To Know' here and tell me what you think, does it remind you of somebody that you used to know or is it just a great track?