Stefan J. Selbert - “You Live Where It’s Cold”
From Los Alamos, California, singer-songwriter Stefan J. Selbert is back on the blog with “You Live Where It’s Cold.”
In case you haven’t been following along, we have featured every tune that Stefan J. Selbert has sent over to us. And as far as indie folk is concerned, his music consistently ticks every box we have for the genre. That said, “You Live Where It’s Cold” piqued our interest as soon as we read its title, especially after the subzero temps we’ve been experiencing in the Chicago area. I digress….
“You Live Where It’s Cold” gets underway with some raw, lo-fi strums of acoustic guitar, up close and personal as though Selbert has opened his guitar case and sat down to perform the track in front of you. This intimate space is expanded with the arrival of his delicate vocal performance, expertly double-tracked to resemble the work of Sufjan Stevens and just a hint of Elliott Smith. The sound is modern, yet holds tightly to the grittiness that drew us to the genre in the first pace.
As the song progresses, it wonderfully spreads into a full-band arrangement, complete with additional guitar textures, a slow and steady rhythm section, and additional dynamic vocal layers that demand that the song becomes a part of the soundtrack to your life. From its near-staccato refrain to its rising and falling waves of variation, “You Live Where It’s Cold” serves as an exemplar of the genre.
In the artist’s words, “You Live Where It’s Cold” is “a quiet(ish) indie folk song about distance, weather, and letting things be,” and we hope that you love it as much as we do. Connect with Stefan J. Selbert: Instagram | Soundcloud | Spotify